Georgia’s ruling party accuses TI Georgia of spreading disinformation over honorary chair Ivanishvili’s asset declaration

Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, has accused the Transparency International – Georgia of spreading false information regarding the asset declaration of its honorary chairman, Bidzina Ivanishvili.

The party on Friday rejected the organization’s claim that Ivanishvili had failed to publish an asset declaration following a brief post-election term as an MP in 2024, calling the allegations “speculative” and “deceptive.”

"Transparency International – Georgia is once again trying to mislead the public with speculative statements and propagate lies," the party said in its official response.

The dispute centres around the requirement for public officials and parliamentary candidates to submit declarations of assets and property. Georgian Dream confirmed that Ivanishvili submitted a declaration on 4 October 2024, in his capacity as a candidate in the 2024 parliamentary elections, as required by Georgian law.

The statement also referred to an article published by Radio Liberty on 31 October 2024, which detailed Ivanishvili’s declared assets in Georgia, Russia, and France - citing the same asset declaration.

Transparency International – Georgia had argued that a separate obligation to submit a declaration arose from Ivanishvili's brief tenure as a Member of Parliament after the elections. Georgian Dream countered that Ivanishvili’s parliamentary mandate, recognised on 25 November 2024 and terminated at his request on 10 December, lasted fewer than two months - exempting him from the requirement to file an additional declaration under Georgia’s anti-corruption legislation.

According to the Law on Combating Corruption, officials serving for less than two months are not required to submit a new declaration if they have already completed one earlier in the same calendar year, the party said. 

"Based on the above-mentioned legal provisions, it is clear that Transparency International – Georgia is spreading lies,” the ruling party concluded.