Tbilisi, 23 January 2020 – Georgia has been assigned a score of 56 and shares 44th place with Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, and Latvia in the 2019 edition of the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) which was published by the Transparency International Secretariat today and ranks 180 countries.

In the ranking, 100 points indicate the lowest level of perceived corruption while 0 – its highest level.

Georgia’s score has decreased by two points compared with last year. According to the survey’s methodology, a two-point change is considered statistically insignificant. Georgia still ranks top in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region. However, the lack of progress in terms of Georgia’s score in recent years points to the stagnation of anti-corruption reforms in the country.

Armenia and Azerbaijan are the two countries in the region whose score increased significantly in 2019 compared with 2018 (by seven and five points respectively).

Most Significant Challenges

According to the Transparency International Secretariat’s analysis of the CPI results for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, “state capture and the concentration of power in private hands remain a major stumbling block in the region. Undue influence over key institutions continue to present the utmost challenge to political integrity in Georgia, which dropped two points on the CPI since last year.”

Georgia’s 2019 CPI score indicates that the country has not addressed the problems highlighted in the last year’s report

• A lack of accountability of the law enforcement bodies
• Corruption and political interference in the judiciary
• State capture
• Government-sponsored attacks on independent civil society
• Absence of an independent anti-corruption investigative agency

Recommendations

In order to improve the situation in Georgia in terms of corruption, it is important to take steps toward the strengthening of the country’s anti-corruption system and democratic institutions:

• Ensure an effective system of checks and balances
• Protect the independence of key state institutions and strengthen them
• Protect the law enforcement agencies from undue political influence
• Ensure a free and competitive electoral environment
• Effectively address violations of party and election campaign financing rules
• Cease attacks on the government’s political opponents and other groups with dissenting views
• Cease the campaigns which aim to discredit civil society organizations and activists
• Establish an independent anti-corruption agency as a mechanism for effectively addressing instances of corruption (including high-level corruption).

About Corruption Perceptions Index

The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), published for the 27th time today, is based on expert opinions of the level of corruption in the public sector. Since 2012, the survey has been conducted using a new methodology which allows comparing the results from different years. CPI is prepared based on the research by reputable international organizations, each containing the assessment of the situation prevailing in various countries with regard to corruption.

According to CPI 2019, the level of perceived corruption is the lowest in Denmark and New Zealand (87 points) and the highest in Somalia (9 points).

Georgia’s score in CPI 2019 is based on the following studies: Bertelsmann Stiftung’s Transformation Index, World Justice Project Rule of Law Index, Global Insight’s Country Risk Rating, Freedom House’s Nations in Transit, Varieties of Democracy Project.