On July 20, the TV company Imedi published a report from “Imedis Kvira” (Imedi’s Weekly) on its Facebook page, which concerns the funding of Georgian non-governmental organizations. According to the report, the organization Eastern European Centre for Multiparty Democracy (EECMD), led by Levan Tsutskiridze, is to receive 3 million euros from the European Commission within the framework of a 2-year grant. The report also mentions the organization International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), to which TV Imedi attributes receiving a grant of 700,000 euros under a single project. “Imedis Kvira” further claims that other NGOs, such as EPRC, similarly receive million-euro grants.
In reality, the amounts of the grants mentioned in Imedi’s report reflect the total project budgets, which are distributed among multiple beneficiaries and do not represent the funding allocated to a single organization:
- EECMD did not receive 3 million euros from the EU project but rather 109,062 euros. The total project budget is 2,982,125 euros and is distributed among 12 organizations.
- ISFED did not receive 700,000 euros solely for one EU project; this amount represents the EU’s contribution to the overall project, which is shared among three organizations.
- The 8,500,000 euro funding attributed to EPRC from various projects is the combined total budget of those projects, which varies by project and is shared among eight or more organizations.
TV Imedi also spread false information about NGO funding in its July 9 broadcast.
The Imedi report is based on the NGO Transparency website, which was created by the Patriots for Europe, a right-wing group of the European Parliament. The website’s creation was announced by Kinga Gál, a member of Orbán’s party. Some of the information on the portal is incomplete, and Imedi presents it with its own interpretation, resulting in numerous inaccuracies in the report concerning the grants. Information about funding is publicly available through open sources, including the official websites of the European Union.
- Did EECMD Receive a 3-Million-Euro Grant?
In “Imedis Kvira,” there is mention of an EU project titled “Re-Engaging with Neighbours in a State of War and Geopolitical Tensions,” which is a three-year initiative with a total budget of €2,982,125. This amount was not granted to EECMD by the European Commission. In reality, the coordinator of the project is the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, which receives €925,250, while the remaining funds are distributed among 11 other project participants. According to the European Commission’s website, the grant awarded to EECMD amounts to €109,062.50.
The project has its own website, where information about partners and implemented activities is available. The initiative aims to counter hybrid threats faced by the EU and its neighbors. It conducts in-depth research in EU candidate countries, including three in the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia) and three in the Eastern Neighborhood (Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine).
- How Much Did ISFED Receive Under the EU Project?
Another organization labeled among the “rich NGOs” in the report is ISFED. The claim that the organization received €700,000 for a single project is false. That figure represents the EU’s contribution to a €1,076,922 project, which spans two years. Apart from ISFED, the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (GFSIS) and the Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics are also implementing partners and receive portions of the grant. According to information provided to Myth Detector, ISFED’s share from the project is €418,389.
The project aims to improve the electoral environment in Georgia by supporting free and fair elections, conducting comprehensive election monitoring, informing voters, and promoting open and transparent communication between political parties and the electorate.
- What Do We Know About the Funding Received by EPRC?
The Imedi report also claims that the Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC) received €8,500,000 in funding across five projects. In reality, these amounts reflect the total budgets of the projects, which are often shared among eight or more organizations.
For example:
- The 4-year project “Post-pandemic resilient communities: is the informal economy a reservoir for the next generation of digitalized and green businesses in the Global South?” has an EU contribution of €3,823,509.60, which is not exclusively allocated to EPRC. The budget is distributed among 14 organizations, and EPRC’s share is €216,352.80.
- Another 4-year project, “Caucasus and Central Asia Research on Social Innovation: Development Assistance, Innovation and Societal Transformation,” with a total EU contribution of €1,619,200, is distributed among nine beneficiaries. EPRC’s share is €128,800.
- The 5-year project “New Market: an exploration into the changing nature of business environments, informal barriers, and emerging markets in the post-Soviet region” has a total budget of €1,104,000 across eight implementing organizations, from which EPRC received €110,400.
All these projects focus on economics, business activity, market research, knowledge sharing, and policy recommendations in these fields.
Myth Detector has previously fact-checked the funding of other projects implemented by EPRC, the Civil Society Foundation, and other NGOs mentioned in the report. More information is available in the following article:
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