News
Openly pro-Russian party Conservative Movement/Alt-Info has new donors
25.05.2022

The openly pro-Russian Conservative Movement/Alt-Info party was founded on November 20, 2021. For three months after the party was founded, the party had not had donors. The political union first received donation on February 16, 2022, but the Conservative Movement started opening offices in the regions on December 27, 2021, when it had no funding.

Today, the Conservative Movement has 64 offices and the amount of donations exceeds GEL 200,000. Although party donations have increased sharply in recent months, the amount officially declared is unlikely to be enough to maintain 62 regional offices (rent, staff salaries, meeting expenses, etc.).

From 16 February 2022 to 23 May 2022, the Conservative Movement received 210 donations. In total, the party has 80 donors, most of whom have donated money to the party several times. The main donors are the heads of the Conservative Movement's regional offices, who are donating money to the party instead of being paid. For example:

  1. Simon Eghiashvili (head of the Akhaltsikhe office) - GEL 3,000
  2. Merab Gigani (head of the Rustavi office) - GEL 7,575
  3. Davit Dvalishvili (head of the Poti office) - GEL 7,360
  4. Gia Gulua (head of the Zugdidi office) - GEL 6,100

Most of the donors do not have any real estate registered in their name in the Public Registry. For example, according to the latest information posted on the website of the State Audit Office, the Conservative Movement has two major donors: Goga Tukhareli, who has donated GEL 11,100 to the Conservative Movement and Zurab Kobakhidze, who has donated GEL 11,123. None of them own real estate.

Zezva Chankseliani, one of the major donors, has donated GEL 8,000 to the party. During the presidential elections, Zezva Chankseliani donated GEL 1,000 to a candidate who was openly supported by the Government. The Democracy Research Institute has previously written about Zezva Chankseliani's ties with the Deputy Chairman of the Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia faction of the Lentekhi Municipal Assembly.

The Conservative Movement’s another donor is Jarji Nonashvili, a member of the party. He has donated GEL 1,500 to the party. Nonashvili is a Georgian athlete who will have trainings in Grozny, Russia Federation. In an interview with TV Pirveli, Nonashvili said: "I have several fighters and I am going to visit Habib. Habib Nurga Mammadov, a fighter, is my friend, I have relations with his friends, Dagestani boys, Chechen boys, and they invited us, some of my fighters. Trainings in martial arts. I may represent the Conservative Movement, but my fighters are ordinary people. I have no contact with Kadyrov at all, my friends know him."

Nonashvili is the son of Mariam Mikatsadze, the head of the Kareli office of the Conservative Movement.

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The Conservative Movement/Alt-Info's openly pro-Russian orientation is confirmed by the party's founders themselves,[1] who hold joint events together with Russian political officials. For example, in January 2022, the Conservative Movement and Russian Duma Deputies held a joint conference on Georgian-Russian relations. The Deputies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, Artyom Turov and Kazbek Taysaev, took part in the online conference. On March 11, Taysaev was put on the list of persons individually sanctioned by the United States.

 

[1] Radio Liberty, November 20, 2021, Alt-Info Party’s Goals for Russia, available at https://www.radiotavisupleba.ge/a/31571140.html?fbclid=IwAR3PDio9wus0i3kp9M5b532KKNlIxOSwQxQQQS4