A scandal has erupted around a new gas contract with Gazprom. The State Security Service (SSS) has opened a criminal case on charges of sabotage and unauthorized access to a computer system to investigate the unauthorized publication of a classified annex to the agreement with Russia’s Gazprom on the government administration's website and its dissemination in the media .

“An alleged cyberattack and certain manipulations were carried out on the administration's website, which aimed to damage Georgia’s state interests by spreading incorrect information in the public domain, including causing detrimental political and economic consequences for the country,” the SSS statement reads.

The case was opened under two articles of the Criminal Code :

1. Article 284 – unauthorized access to a computer system;

2. Article 318 – sabotage.

On December 25 of last year, the government administration published a decree on the contract with Gazprom, accompanied by information about the price. Despite the fact that the agreement was a commercial secret, this information was made public through the government administration's website.

The publication of the document became known following an announcement on the “Formula” program, “The Real Story with Eliso Jariashvili,” and later reported by BM.GE. “In order to mitigate damage to state interests, as a preventive measure, media representatives, as well as individuals, were recommended to refrain from disseminating the information,” the SSS statement reads.

Within a few hours, Decree #2212 was removed from the government website, and media outlets issued corrections to the published news. The BM.GE publication noted that “the editorial board decided to remove the decree based on state interests”. According to reports from the Georgian Energy Regulatory Commission and Gazprom, Georgia pays $185 per 1,000 cubic meters of Russian natural gas.