SARAS Received Expert Support on Country-by-Country Reporting Issues as Part of a Project Funded by the European Union

In the framework of the project - Facility for the Implementation of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement II – the staff of the Department of Accounting and Reporting was assisted by an international expert in the field, the former Minister of Finance of Lithuania, Rimantas Sadzius, from 14 to 29 December on the issues of introducing country-by-country reporting requirements, raising awareness and the needs for further initiation of the process.

This support relates to the requirements of the EU Directive on country-by-country reporting, which applies across the European Union. The Directive was amended in 2021 and the Member States were required to incorporate the updated requirements into their local legislation by the same year. In the European Union, multinational enterprises are required to prepare country-by-country reports for subsequent reporting periods to ensure financial transparency for large enterprises.  

As part of the project, an extended meeting with relevant agencies was held on 27 November. The expert, together with SARAS, provided information on the subject to the staff of the LEPL - Revenue Service and LEPL - National Bank of Georgia, members of the Accounting, Reporting and Auditing Board and representatives of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia. Considering Georgia’s European perspective and the current situation, it is important to introduce and implement the existing EU regulations at the local level. Accordingly, the international expert helped SARAS staff to raise awareness on the issue and to identify the necessary changes in the legislation. 

As part of the project, a guidance document was produced which is of great value to SARAS in initiating and implementing changes. As SARAS works intensively on the dynamic approximation of legislation within the framework of the Association Agreement with the European Union, it is important to improve the legal basis for the matters under its competence. 

The objective of the project - Facility for the Implementation of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement II - is to further strengthen and improve the capacity of Georgian public institutions by introducing European best practices.