Illicit Financial Flows and Asset Recovery in Georgia - April 2021

Organised crime produces significant amounts of illicit revenue and proceeds globally and in Europe. Georgia has implemented impressive reform measures to combat corruption, organised crime and Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) in the country, providing a positive example for the region. Despite this progress, Georgia still deals with certain criminality inside the country.

The principle criminal activities in Georgia include theft, fraud, drug-related crime, property crime, cybercrime and financial crime. Significant levels of IFFs might have been produced by this criminal activity in recent years. Additionally, Georgia faces certain challenges regarding Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) trafficking and terrorism financing due to regional insecurity.

This study’s main objective is to provide targeted recommendations to national authorities, as well as other key stakeholders, in order to create and strengthen mechanisms for effective and efficient seizure and confiscation of assets linked to organised crime.

The study also provides recommendations to strengthen the transparent management of recovered assets, including recommendations with respect to directing such assets to high-priority development needs. High-priority needs in Georgia include the employment, health, and infrastructure sectors.

This report is part of the series of action-oriented research on Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) and Asset Recovery that the European Union and UNICRI are launching to shed light on the significant damage being caused to States as a result of unchecked IFFs, and on the significant value of prioritising the capture of illicitly-obtained assets linked to such IFFs.