The Mayor of Tbilisi commented on the controversy around the proposed bill on transparency of foreign influence by saying a similar law working well in the US meant the law would also function in Georgia if approved.

“The draft law is only about transparency. If a similar law works well in the US, why would it be bad for us? The law is necessary to ensure more transparency and enable the public to be informed about where from, and how, this or that organization is funded.

I will say once again that this bill is only about transparency. We can list a number of countries where a similar law works and no problem has arisen [from it]. I am sure that there will be no problem in Georgia either.

There was an attempt to represent the initiative as “Russian bill”, but no one making the claim had gone into the depths of its content.

If such a law works well in America, why can’t it work here? Why would it be bad for us? There are countries that are unfriendly to Georgia and fund various organizations, which could be a problem for us and Europe tomorrow. So why are they worried when we talk about the need for transparency in this direction? The bill had nothing to do with the Russian law”, - said Kakha Kaladze.