The controversial law on transparency of foreign influence, which requires registration of non-commercial legal entities and media outlets in the country as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they derive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad, comes into effect starting today, agenda.ge reports.
The law, as stated in the country’s Legislative Herald, does not impose restrictions on operations of organisations registered under its provisions. It requires the organisations to register in a public database under the status and declare their annual revenue.
The country’s Ministry of Justice is authorised to carry out research and monitoring to identify the organisations, with the possibility of monitoring every six months.
Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili formally signed the law in June after the legislative body overrode a veto of the country’s President Salome Zourabichvili on the bill, placed on the legislative initiative after it was approved by the Parliament in its third reading.