Parliament may adopt an even stricter law on the political activity of entrepreneurial legal entities than the version introduced at the first reading.

Archil Gorduladze, Chair of the Legal Affairs Committee and the main rapporteur for the legislative package of the “Georgian Dream” faction, presented a proposal to the committee under which an entrepreneurial legal entity engaged in political activity would be subject to an administrative fine only the first time, while the second and all subsequent violations would result in criminal liability.

According to Gorduladze, this would ensure that business money is not invested in politics and that businesses focus on doing business.

“The aim is for an entrepreneur to do the work for which the specific legal entity was created - accordingly, to engage in business and be profit-oriented. We are not interfering with business freedom; on the contrary, we are proud and clearly state that business freedom is an achievement of our team.

At the same time, if someone wants to engage in politics, there is an appropriate rule and form for this - they should register as a political party and conduct political activities accordingly.

When a legal entity engages in political activity, this entails corresponding responsibility - we are not talking here about a specific individual.

At the same time, I propose, and this may be a matter for discussion, whether fines of 20,000 and 40,000 GEL are relevant for large-scale businesses. These amounts may not be restrictive enough to deter violations. Should we consider that political activity by a business entity results in administrative liability the first time, and criminal liability the second and subsequent times, in order to further ensure that business money is not invested in politics, that businesses do business, and that politics is carried out by those involved in political activity.

My proposal is that, within the framework of the second reading, relevant provisions be included both in the ‘Code of Administrative Offenses’ and the ‘Criminal Code’,” Archil Gorduladze stated.

According to the planned amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses, a new article will be added on “Political Activity of an Entrepreneurial Legal Entity.” Under this article, the public conduct of political activity by an entrepreneurial legal entity that is not related to its core business activities will result in a fine of 20,000 GEL. In the case of a repeated offense, the fine will amount to 40,000 GEL.