Corruption undermines democracy and the rule of law, infringes on human rights, gradually erodes the standard of living, and contributes to organized crime, terrorism, and other challenges to security. It is a major obstacle to
poverty alleviation and development. The Government of Georgia (GoG) has committed itself to implement
an effective and coordinated anti-corruption policy as part of a number of international platforms. Among other documents, the Georgia-EU Association Agreement (AA) directly stipulates the commitment to an effective
fight against corruption and the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption of 2003 (UNCAC). Contrary to this, corruption in Georgia has assumed an extreme form – that of state capture.
According to Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI), the influence of the ruling party’s founder over key institutions meets the definition of state capture. The worsened anti-corruption environment
is accompanied by an almost complete stalling of the implementation of reforms in this area. The current situation is characterized by impressively low levels of petty corruption combined with near-total impunity for high-level corruption.
AUTHOR:
Alexander Kevkhishvili, Lili Lezhava – On behalf of Transparency International Georgia