The US Department of Treasury through its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), has imposed sanctions on two Georgian government officials and two private citizens for their roles in suppressing fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. According to the U.S. Treasury, these individuals were involved in violent crackdowns on protestors related to Georgia’s controversial "foreign influence law," passed in May 2024.

China is the largest bilateral creditor to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) presently. China’s lending mainly targets infrastructure, transport, energy, and mining sectors in developing countries that are of strategic importance to the Chinese government. Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia have observed the most substantial increases in borrowing. Chinese financing to LMICs is facilitated through state entities, offering concessional and non-concessional loans, with a significant portion of lending cloaked in confidentiality.

ISET Policy Institute, which since 2011 has been in service of the development agenda of the country through economic policy dialogue and evidence-based economic research condemns the government’s recent actions and reintroduction of the so-called ‘Russian Law’ that jeopardizes country’s European integration and puts its cooperation with authorities on hold until the Georgian government returns into service of the country’s European aspiration.

In June 2023, responding to appeals from the Georgian Flour Producers Association, the Georgian government imposed a temporary import duty on wheat flour imported from Russia. This advocacy by the Association began after Russia implemented a “floating tariff” on wheat in 2021, making wheat imports more expensive compared to wheat flour.

On 25 July, ISET Policy Institute, with support from the Swedish Embassy, met representatives from local non-governmental and international organizations, and from the Kutaisi public and private sectors, in order to introduce its activities and key products.