Papuashvili Accuses Council of Europe of Bypassing Georgia's Grant Law
By Messenger Staff
Tuesday, September 22, 2026
Georgian Dream Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili accused the Council of Europe's Georgia office of potentially bypassing the country's grant law by directly paying for a political meeting in Bakhmaro linked to the Tbilisi School of Political Studies, led by opposition politician Armaz Akhvlediani.
The State Audit Office is investigating the arrangements.
Papuashvili said the government had confirmed that no grant application was submitted, while the Council of Europe said the event was not funded through a grant. Instead, its local office reportedly paid directly for the hotel, transport, catering, experts and speakers.
"If it turns out that the Council of Europe was violating the law in a member state and attempting to circumvent it, this would be a catastrophic scandal for the Council of Europe's local office," Papuashvili said.
He said Georgian law permits foreign organizations to make certain direct expenditures without government approval, but argued that this exemption cannot be used to disguise a grant as a service contract.
"If an agreement is labeled as a service contract rather than a grant, yet is essentially a grant, it constitutes a sham transaction and will be classified as a grant," he said.
Papuashvili also accused the Council of Europe of effectively directing Georgian taxpayers' money toward the opposition.
"We do not want Georgians' money spent on the radical projects of the National Movement," he said, referring to Akhvlediani as a "radical politician."
The Council of Europe has not publicly characterized the Bakhmaro event as a grant. The Audit Office investigation will determine whether the arrangements complied with Georgian law.
