The Prime Minister of Georgia said today that the Government had decided to establish a grant program for domestic non-governmental organisations, fully funded by Georgian taxpayers through the state budget.

“The registration process for NGOs under the Law on Transparency was completed a few days ago.

Over 450 NGOs, representing the majority of foreign-funded organisations, have submitted their registration applications to the Ministry of Justice. I want to thank each of these NGOs for their civic responsibility. This shows that receiving foreign funding does not automatically mean pursuing harmful foreign interests. Those with nothing to hide have no fear of transparency.

It is logical that foreign-funded NGOs, which neither aimed to set a political agenda in Georgia nor participated in revolutionary scenarios, had no hesitation in registering. The registration process was conducted amid active pressure and blackmail.

NGOs are being threatened and blackmailed by both foreign donor organisations and other NGOs. Many NGOs have been warned by specific foreign donors that their funding would be cut if they registered with the Ministry of Justice. Given this, and based on a broader national interest, we decided to establish a grant program for Georgian NGOs, funded entirely by Georgian taxpayers through the state budget.

The necessary institutional and financial groundwork for the grant fund would be prepared over the next 2 months, with the 1st grant projects to be funded starting from January 2025.

We will share detailed information about the grant program soon. These grants will be allocated to address tasks aligned with the interests of the Georgian people, including strengthening democratic institutions, fighting corruption, addressing hybrid threats, caring for people with disabilities, protecting the environment, and safeguarding the rights of ethnic and religious minorities.

The funds disbursed through the grant program would be transparent to the society. The public will be able to continuously verify whether the activities of these NGOs align with Georgia’s national interests. I call on all NGOs that want to become “agents” of influence for the Georgian people and promote Georgia’s national interests to actively engage in the grant program’s competitions”, - said Kakha Kobakhidze.