Analysis

Georgia in 2017 Index of Economic Freedom

Georgia has gained 10 positions in the 2017 Index of Economic Freedom, taking the 13th place in the ranking of 180 countries worldwide and going ahead of all of its neighbors and most European and Post-Soviet countries. In Europe, Georgia took the 5th place and is behind only Switzerland, Estonia, Ireland and Great Britain.

IDP Families Waiting for Permanent Homes - Limited State Resources or Lack of Political Will

As of January 2017, 37,000 IDP households in Georgia are expecting state assistance. According to the Ministry of Refugees, GEL 1.5 billion is needed to provide these families with permanent housing.

Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO) – Fourth Evaluation Round

Georgia is the member of GRECO from September, 1999. During its 17 years of membership Georgia underwent four evaluation rounds. The last evaluation round was launched in 2012. The GRECO Evaluation Team (GET), within the scope of fourth round of evaluation, conducted on-site visit to Georgia in June 2016. The evaluation report was adopted in December, 2016 and was published in January, 2017.

2016 Statistics on Telephone Surveillance and Secret Investigation in Georgia

On January 25, 2017 the Supreme Court of Georgia published complete information about motions on telephone surveillance in 2016. Prior to this, available statistics covered the period up to October 2016. According to the published information, in 2016 there was a total of 401 motions on telephone surveillance, 315 of which were granted fully, and 30 were granted partially. Therefore, the percentage of granted motions has slightly increased as compared to 2015 and was 86%.

Statistics of Cutting Down Trees in Tbilisi Due to Constructions

The number of trees being cut down in Tbilisi in 2016 for being damaged has increased 5 fold compared to previous years, raising questions about the procedure for checking trees.

2016 Crime Data and Access to Information in Georgia

The incompleteness and inconsistency with which the Ministry of Internal Affairs has been publishing crime data raises questions that the Ministry is purposefully trying to keep the public in the dark about the actual levels of crime in the country. In addition, the data that is published has often been contradictory, which damages public trust towards official statistics on crime.

Open Contracting Data Standard - Data Disclosure at Its Best

Disclosing procurement-related documents is the first step towards building a transparent public procurement system. However, making the data included in these documents machine-readable is equally, if not more, important, since otherwise it is nearly impossible to process procurement related data on a large scale. 

2013 Bonuses and Salary Supplements in the Ministry of Internal Affairs

Public officials in the MIA central office had received bonuses of GEL 2,325,789 in January-October 2013. The Minister of Internal Affairs had received a bonus of GEL 4,335 only once in February. However, most other public officials received monthly bonuses that were much higher than their monthly salary on a monthly basis.

Freedom House: Georgia’s Score in Internet Freedom Ranking has Decreased

Georgia in the 2016 Global Innovation Index

According to the 2016 Global Innovation Index, Georgia has received a score of 33.9 (out of a 100), increasing its result insignificantly compared to the previous year (33.8). In terms of ranking, Georgia gained 9 positions compared to 2015 and currently holds the 64th place among 128 countries. The country scored high in institutional structure and regulatory policies but low on government and private sector support of education and research, and limited use of innovations by business.