Georgia’s Score Declines in 2021 Corruption Perception Index

Georgia’s standing in the Transparency International’s 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index declined by one point, as the watchdog said the ruling Georgian Dream party has “in recent years solidified its grasp on the judiciary and law enforcement bodies, effectively killing the political momentum needed to fight corruption.”

In the 2021 CPI, published today, Georgia is ranked 45th among 180 countries with a score of 55 (on a scale where 0 is the worst and 100 is the best result), sharing its place with Botswana, Dominica, and Fiji.

While Georgia tops the list of countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the area is the second lowest performing region on the index with an average score of 36 out of 100.

The global watchdog sounded a warning over the concentration of power in Georgia, stressing that the influence of GD founder billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili over key institutions in the country “meets the definition” of state capture. 

In 2020 CPI, Georgia ranked 45th among 180 countries with a score of 56, while in 2019, the country was rated with 56 points and placed 44th.

In 2018 Georgia ranked 41st with a score of 58, its highest since 2012, when TI changed its methodology to produce more accurate analysis. In 2017 Georgia was placed 46th with a score of 56. It garnered 57 in 2016, 52 in 2015 and 2014, 49 in 2013, and 52 in 2012.

Source: Transparency International

Transparency International Georgia, the global watchdog’s local chapter, also reiterated today that “the fight against corruption is not a priority for the Georgian government.”

The fact that Georgia’s score has not improved significantly since 2012, according to TI Georgia, “indicates the stagnation of anti-corruption reforms in the country.”

“In recent years there has been no reform of enough scale or ambition that would improve the anti-corruption environment,” the watchdog said, arguing such attitude was “extremely dangerous.”

It explained that Georgia’s relatively good score, above the global average of 43, is “largely due to the fact that petty bribery is low in the country.”

TI Georgia, however, highlighted a number of other issues facing the country, including informal governance, “unhealthy” concentration of power, weakening of checks and balances, weak parliamentary oversight, elite corruption, and stalled anti-corruption reform.

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