Tbilisi, 27 January 2015 - Georgia is ranked 48th among 168 countries with the score of 52 (out of the maximum 100) in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) published by the Transparency International Secretariat today.

Tbilisi, 27 January 2015 - Georgia is ranked 48th among 168 countries with the score of 52 (out of the maximum 100) in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) published by the Transparency International Secretariat today.

Georgia’s CPI score was 52 in 2012 (ranked 51st), 49 in 2013 (ranked 55th) and 52 again in 2014 (ranked 50th). Since, according to the CPI methodology, only an increase or a decrease of the CPI score by 4 points or more indicates a significant change in the perceived level of corruption in a country, these results show that the corruption perception level has remained stable in Georgia over the last three years and there has been no significant progress or backslide during this period of time.

According to the 2015 CPI, Denmark (score of 91), Finland, (90) and Sweden (89) have the lowest levels of perceived corruption, while North Korea and Somalia have the highest with a score of 8.

As was the case last year, with the score of 52, Georgia ranks highest among the 19 countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Georgia also scored higher than a number of EU member states: Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy and Romania.

Top performers share key characteristics: high levels of press freedom; public access to budget information; high levels of integrity among people in power; and judiciaries that that are truly independent from other parts of government. Weak public institutions and a lack of independence in the media and the judiciary characterise the lowest ranked countries.

Georgia took a number of steps in 2015 in order to improve its anti-corruption policies:

• Updated National Anti-Corruption Strategy and Action Plan were adopted along with a monitoring methodology for their implementation

• Legislative amendments approved by Parliament provide for the launch of a verification system for the asset declarations of public officials in 2017

• Stronger legal provisions on Whistleblower protection were adopted

At the same time, a number of important issues still need to be addressed in order to achieve further progress and establish an effective system for the prevention of corruption in Georgia:

• Informal influence on public institutions must be eliminated

• Establishment of an independent anti-corruption body that will have the necessary powers and resources for the prevention of complex types of corruption (including corruption-related crimes committed by high-ranking officials)

• Establishment of the mechanisms for the enforcement of legal provisions designed for the prevention of conflict of interest and corruption, including a mechanism for the verification of the content of public officials’ asset declarations

• Establishment of an independent and professional civil service that will be free of political influence. Establishment of an effective and transparent system for recruitment and dismissal in the civil service that will exclude the possibility of politically motivated decisions and nepotism in this area

• Establishment of an independent investigatory mechanism for the investigation of crimes committed by law enforcement officers

• Safeguarding of institutional independence of the supervisory and regulatory institutions (e.g. the State Audit Office, the State Procurement Agency, the Competition Agency, the Georgian National Communications Commission, the Civil Service Bureau) and prevention of political interference in their operations

• Reduction of the excessively big share of simplified procurement in public procurement

A more detailed analysis of the situation in Georgia in terms of corruption and anti-corruption policy is provided in the Georgian National Integrity System Assessment which Transparency International Georgia published in June 2015.

The Corruption Perceptions Index which has been published by the Transparency International Secretariat annually since 1995 is based on expert opinions of public sector corruption. Since 2012, the index has been compiled with a new methodology, making it possible to compare results from different years. The CPI is a composite index and is produced based on the studies conducted by a number of authoritative organizations. Georgia’s 2015 CPI score is based on data from the following sources:

1. Berteslmann Foundation Transformation Index

2. World Economic Forum Executive Opinion Survey

3. World Justice Project Rule of Law Index

4. Global Insight Country Risk Ratings

5. Freedom House Nations in Transit

Data updated on September 14 / 2017