Chamber of Control publishes financial report of Georgian Dream

The Chamber of Control which is responsible for political parties and entities directly or indirectly related to them, has published an official report about the financial resources which the public movement Georgian Dream, founded by Georgian billionaire and politician Bidzina Ivanishvili, received from November 1 to the end of 2011.

It was the first official report and referred to the movement not as a political party, which according to the Chamber of Control must have open political aims and targets.

According to Chairman of the special monitoring service of the Chamber of Control Natia Mogeladze, the public movement refused to deliver the requested information concerning their finances. Therefore the service got that information from “alternative sources”, as the target of the department is to monitor and observe the financial transactions of all political forces within the country.

The report covers several fields, including the finances allocated for Georgian media and salary amounts given to members of the movement.

The Chamber of Control claims that the division of Ivanishvili’s money went as follows: for advertisements aired on TV Company Kavkasia - GEL 147,893; live transmissions - GEL 30,000; video transmissions aired on Maestro TV channel - GEL 195,622; video advertisements aired by Hereti Broadcasting Company - GEL 83,261; audio advertisements on Radio Utsnobi - GEL 31,400; TV Radio Company service - GEL 10,000; advertisements in newspaper Chokhatauris Matsne - GEL 54,150; political advertisements in Resonance ltd - GEL 2,400.

As for salary expenses for the given period, according to the Chamber of Control they comprised GEL 145,105.

In response to the Chamber of Control’s report, Georgian Dream raised the demand to present all documentation confirming that public movement Georgian Dream has publicly declared its political aims and tasks. As the movement stated, they will respond to Mogeladze’s letter requesting to present their financial documentation, if the body informs them: specifically who, and based on what legal act, decided that public movement Georgian Dream was a legal entity outlined within the first point of article 261 in the organic law on political unions; which concrete facts (if they exist) was such a decision based on, and specifically which action then is considered political activity according to how the law on political unions defines the activity of Georgian Dream.

At the same time the movement stated that all the decisions and actions of the Government, including the most recent one by the Chamber of Control, were carried out because of fear of the possibility of Ivanishvili coming to power.

It should also be mentioned that Georgian society is able to access information of the financial expenses of the movement from Georgian Dream’s Facebook page, and the information reported by the Chamber of Control in many ways coincides with that information published on Georgian Dream’s webpage. According to Georgian Dream’s data, their media expenses consisted of GEL 733,929 for the two months, all of which, including specific media means, activities, and how much money they were paid, is described in details.

The information which was published by the Chamber of Control and which is described on Georgian Dream’s social page were also confirmed by concrete financial receipts. Editor of the newspaper Rezonansi, Lasha Tughushi, confirmed that his newspaper really got GEL 2,400 from Ivanishvili. “I have not seen the Chamber of Control’s statement. As for Rezonansi, we got money for advertisements and for publishing Ivanishvili’s New Year advertisement.”