According to U.S. law, all agreements that provide for lobbying in the United States on behalf of a foreign country are public. Information about the objectives, cost and validity of each contract is posted on the US Foreign Agent Registration (FARA) website.
Under the system, the American-Georgian Economic Cooperation Foundation (AGECF), founded by former Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze, signed a contract with the American communications/lobbying firm King & Spalding LLP.
The contract budget is USD 55,000. This is the fund's second lobbying contract, as the first $ 40,000 contract has been signed with Delahunt Group International LLC in February.
The purpose of the contract is to work for closer economic relations between Georgia and the United States, to advocate for a free trade agreement and the opening of a DFC regional office in Georgia.
Mamuka Bakhtadze presented the American-Georgian Economic Cooperation Fund in December last year. Then Mamuka Bakhtadze said that it is unfortunate that US investments in the region are declining.
"There are many reasons for this trend, of course, but it is one of them, and research shows that American companies lack the financial and economic tools to compete with Asian and Russian companies.
Therefore, I think that economic cooperation and partnership should be the key to this in order to create new opportunities. This was the main motivation for me and my American and Georgian friends to establish this organization - "America-Georgia Economic Cooperation Fund", - said Bakhtadze in December 2022.
Mamuka Bakhtadze resigned as Prime Minister in September 2019.
