TBILISI. April 8 (Interfax) - Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has said the bill on Transparency of Foreign Influence is needed to ensure transparent financial statements of non-governmental organizations and media outlets, while the opposition has criticized the legislation.
"We have examined reports of the seven wealthiest non-governmental organizations in Georgia and found that they have been declaring just 18% of their revenue since 2012. We have no information what the undeclared funds have been spent on, and this is at least 70 million lari [over $26 million]," Kobakhidze said at a government meeting on Monday.
He thus refuted the opposition's claims that financial statements of NGOs and media outlets in Georgia are transparent and that the authorities can monitor everything without any additional laws.
"The opposition calls the bill on Transparency of Foreign Influence Russian, but no one can say why. We believe that transparency and free speech should be a priority in a democratic society," Kobakhidze said.
The bill will be discussed by the Georgian Parliament Bureau on Monday and submitted to parliament committees later this week. Opposition MPs have submitted an alternative bill, On Protection from the Influence of the Russian Federation, to the Parliament Bureau.
Opposition parties and NGOs said last week that they would launch mass protests against the bill they described as a copy of the Russian law on foreign agents.