Project Title: Empowered Watchdog Community and Enhanced Transparency Standards for Government Accountability
Supported by: International Visegrad Fund and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea
Grant Number: 22310350
Budget: EUR 34,990
Duration: June 1, 2023 – June 1, 2024

Partner Organizations: KohoVolit.eu (Czech Republic and Slovakia), K-Monitor Public Benefit Association (Hungary), Citizens Network Watchdog Poland (Poland)

Background

Access to company beneficial owner (BO) data is crucial to combat international, and high-level corruption. The recent sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine demonstrated the issue's importance. Georgia still needs to adopt BO standards, making it challenging for watchdog groups to monitor suspicious companies effectively. They must request data from various institutions, monitor constantly, and use various platforms for data collection. Also, they lack relevant data collection experience. As for V4 countries, as our previous joint regional study prepared under Visegrad Fund-supported project showed, even though they have implemented standards on anti-money laundering, the best international standards are not fully implemented yet. Additionally, the recent European Court of Justice ruling revoked general public access to BO. However, it confirmed access for journalists and civil society, highlighting the need for further advocacy and local context-based approaches for adequate legislation in the EU and beyond.

To scrutinize the government, access to more BO data of companies operating in Georgia is necessary, along with support for monitoring activities and advocacy for adopting BO standards, taking into account the experiences and lessons learned from the V4 countries.

Project Objectives

IDFI together with its partners, aims to a) continue advocating for BO standards through local and regional events; b) empower watchdog communities in Georgia and beyond through research, capacity building, government monitoring, and more available public data; c) map beneficial owners of the most influential/largest companies operating in Georgia and publish a comprehensive database.

Project Activities

-  Workshop on Beneficial Ownership

- Training for journalists/activists/CSOs/watchdogs regarding government oversight activities

-  Preparing follow-up analyses/analytical papers about beneficial ownership transparency in Georgia and V4 countries

-  Regional/International Hybrid Conference on BO transparency and government accountability

-  Preparing new Datasets, Mapping Beneficial owners and updating DataLab.ge with new data

-  Conducting government oversight activities and preparing analytical/investigative articles

Contract