On January 22, the Communications Commission issued a written warning to “Radio Marneuli” over receiving a grant. The Commission’s decision was based on the repressive amendments to the Law on Broadcasting, which prohibit media outlets from receiving grants from donor organizations.

The Commission’s statement noted that the media outlet had received a grant of 32,542 GEL from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

“The funds were received as part of a grant project and did not fall under the exceptions defined by the Law on Broadcasting, such as commercial advertising, teleshopping, sponsorship, or product placement in programming,” the statement said.

This is the second warning issued to “Radio Marneuli.”

In the first case, the Commission had warned the media outlet over a grant received from Deutsche Welle.

A series of repressive laws were passed by the Parliament under the ruling party, Georgian Dream, including a provision effective from April 1, 2025, banning direct or indirect funding of broadcasters from “foreign forces.”

The amendments were immediately criticized by civil society and independent media, as the provision could be used as a tool to restrict the financial and editorial independence of independent media.