President Saakashvili has allocated GEL 1 million (about USD 603,828) from his discretionary fund, as December 17 presidential order reads, to provide “further assistance to civil society and independent media.”

GEL 1 million from the presidential reserve fund will be distributed as grants to applicants, which will be selected by a commission whose members are President Saakashvili’s five advisors, among them former deputy foreign minister Nino Kalandadze, who is the chairperson of the commission, and former economy minister Vera Kobalia.

Asked about this initiative, PM Bidzina Ivanishvili told journalists on December 18, that President Saakashvili acting as a defender of free media “is a joke”.