Foreign grant law amendment needed to ‘block black money’ inflow aimed at destabilization, Vice Speaker

First deputy speaker of parliament Giorgi Volski on Thursday said legislative changes were needed to prevent what he described as the inflow of “black money” aimed at destabilizing Georgia.

Speaking to journalists about the ruling team’s work on a new legislative package amending the law on grants, Volski said it was unacceptable for undisclosed funds to enter the country for political purposes.

He claimed that some international actors openly argued that Georgia should be governed through non-government groups and that funding should go to forces he described as driving extremist processes.

Volski further added attempts were being made to find alternative ways to bring financial resources into Georgia to support what he called revolutionary activity, while avoiding transparency requirements.

He also referred to recent public statements by EU enlargement commissioner Marta Kos, saying they illustrated the problem of financial involvement without clear accountability.

“If someone says they will bring in funds and then look for ways to bypass the law, that is black money. Especially when such money serves to destabilize Georgia,” Volski said, adding that adopting legislation to prevent this was necessary.