Commitment: Increasing transparency of the public grant funding system
Commitment Description:

Following the OGP Georgia Forum member CSOs’ recommendation, the Administration of the Government of Georgia, with its partner agencies, in 2018 started to reform the current system of grant funding by government/public institutions.

According to the existing practices, Georgia's legislation does not imply common principles and procedures of grant issuance by the Ministries and Legal Entities of Public Laws (LEPLs). Moreover, there is no single legislative standard of grant issuance by public institutions. Besides, several public institutions, including local self-government bodies, are not involved in the government grant system at all.

Outcome: Reforming the existing system of grant allocation by the state/public institutions, increasing its transparency, accessibility and efficiency have been ensured
Timeline: Start date - December 2018, End date - December 2019
OGP Thematic Areas: Transparency, Accountability, Innovation and Technology, Engagement
Reporting Period: 2019, Annual
Lead Agency: Administration of the Government

The Administration of the Government of Georgia, together with the Forum member non-entrepreneurial (non-commercial) legal entity Civil Society Institute (CSI), in 2018 commenced work to reform the existing system of grant issuance funded by a government/public institutions. A working group was created representing the members of the Administration of the Government of Georgia, Civil Society Institute, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure, and State Procurement Agency. Numerous meetings were conducted, and several draft amendments to the Law of Georgia on Grants were prepared.

The draft version of the amendments determines the overall standards of grant funding by a public institution, specifically – the principles of grant funding by a public institution (free competition, impartiality, efficiency, publicity, accountability, independence and coordination), stages of grant issuance, issues related to development and publishing of a grant program, and grant distribution. The key standards and principles will be clear enough to make grand funding a fair and transparent process. Besides, individual governmental agencies will have the opportunity to regulate the process in detail in accordance with the above-mentioned standards and principles. After active discussions and consideration, the working group agreed on common principles of grant issuance. However, the discussions on several procedural issues and on giving permission to other subjects to issue a grant is still ongoing, and the best practices needs to be studied. The work will continue in order to finalize the draft law and present it to the stakeholders. Following the latter, it will be submitted to the Government, and then to the Parliament. 

According to the Secretariat’s assessment, the commitment is partially implemented by the end of the reporting period, as several draft amendments to the Law of Georgia on Grants have been prepared. The final draft needs to be agreed upon, presented to the stakeholders and then to the Parliament of Georgia.