“The Georgian Dream regime is built on corruption and feeds on it. In our assessment, it not only does not lag behind, but even surpasses the level of corruption that existed during Shevardnadze’s time. The only difference is that now there are more resources, more to ‘steal,’ and this is less noticeable,” said Giorgi Oniani, Deputy Executive Director of Transparency International – Georgia, on the PalitraNews program Resume.

“Recently, it seems that Georgian Dream has started fighting corruption, but if we think about it realistically, this regime is saturated with corruption from the highest to the lowest levels. It is based on corruption and thrives on it. In our assessment, it not only does not lag behind, it actually surpasses the corruption of Shevardnadze’s era. The only difference is that now the resources are greater, there is more to ‘take,’ and this is less noticeable.

Everything else now, beyond the so-called fight against corruption, is internal clan conflict within Georgian Dream. The country’s master, Ivanishvili, is angry with some people, no longer trusts others, and this is exactly what is happening today.

What happened to Garibashvili and the former Minister of Defense — no one can believe that Ivanishvili didn’t know that these people were making money. That’s impossible. It’s just that when it was necessary, he used this information against them,” Oniani noted.

He also spoke about the tightened legislation and compared Georgia in this regard to Russia and Belarus.

“Our regime is no different from the regimes in Belarus or Russia. Whatever they did, these people will do as well — they are ready to do anything, and that’s how it proceeds. The only difference is that Georgian Dream tries not to cross certain red lines, so as not to provoke massive public outrage, because during such anger, the situation could become uncontrollable. They also try to act faster and learn from the mistakes of Belarus and Russia.

But there is another side — we know what they (Belarus and Russia) did, and so we will try to be better prepared. These people will restrict everything possible by law, and they will do it gradually so that it doesn’t attract attention, including abroad. If anyone thinks that Georgian Dream doesn’t care what the West thinks of them, this is a very wrong assumption,” Giorgi Oniani stated.