The establishment of the State Grant Management Agency was a “performative” step taken by the government at the time, according to lawyer and former Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) chair Nona Kurdovanidze. She made the comment on Facebook in response to Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s announcement that the agency is being phased out and will close by the end of the year.
Kurdovanidze recalled that the agency was established by Georgian Dream in April 2025, alongside the adoption of laws restricting foreign funding. At the time, the government said the agency would enable civil society organizations to receive funding from the state budget rather than foreign donors.
According to publicly available information cited by Kurdovanidze, the agency funded 17 projects worth a combined GEL 1.66 million through a small grants competition announced in July 2025. She said some of the recipient organizations had been established shortly before the competition and appeared to have been registered specifically for the purpose of participating.
Kurdovanidze described the agency’s establishment as an attempt to present the restrictions on foreign funding in a more favorable light, adding that “apparently, there is no longer a need for this.” Prime Minister Kobakhidze said on September 17 that the State Grants Management Agency is operating in a phase-out mode and will close by the end of 2026. He signed the decision to establish the agency on April 15, 2025; under its regulations, the agency was tasked with funding NGOs from the state budget.
