On August 22, Mtavari Channel broadcasted a story [1], according to which, a source provided the information that the state representative in Samtskhe-Javakheti region, the regional heads of the State Security Service (SSS), and the Ministry of Finance had instructed local businessmen to donate to the ruling party.

According to the story, the SSS contacted the businessmen and summoned them to the state representative's office, where the mentioned three high-rank officials instructed them to contribute a portion of the enterprise's annual turnover to the Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia, otherwise their businesses would have problems.

According to the website of the State Audit Office, where the donations received by the parties are published, 87 individuals [2]and five legal entities [3] from Samtskhe-Javakheti donated a total of GEL 714,000 to the ruling party in August 2-16. Having such a large number of donations from one geographic area in such a short period is quite unusual. It could be indirect evidence of the story broadcasted by Mtavari Channel.

We call upon:

The Prosecutor's office of Georgia to thoroughly and duly investigate alleged serious and large-scale crime described in the story;

The State Audit Office of Georgia, within its competences, to verify the compliance of the mentioned donations with the law.