Georgia’s Justice Ministry launches register for companies “pursuant of foreign interests”

The Ministry of Justice of Georgia has updated its registry websites, introducing a new register of for companies pursuant of foreign interests, after the adoption of the controversial Foreign Influence Transparency Law in May.

The updated website allows users to search for non-governmental and media organizations registered as “pursuant of foreign interests” due to their funding from Georgia’s partner countries.

Organizations can be found by their identification number and name. As of Monday, no organizations have been listed in the register. The public registry’s hotline clarified that the law only came into effect a few days ago, and organizations will be added to the database after registration.

On August 1, an order from the Minister of Justice, Rati Bregadze, was published, which outlined the rules for creating the register, submitting financial declarations, and conducting monitoring of organizations “carrying the interests of a foreign power.”

After the one-month period expires, the Ministry of Justice will begin monitoring. Any foreign interest holder who is discovered and remains unregistered will be fined 25,000 GEL and automatically registered as a foreign interest holder.