Georgia’s State Security Service (SSSG) said it has launched a criminal investigation into “sabotage” and the “unauthorized penetration of a government computer system,” days after media outlets found classified documents on an official government website that allegedly contained details of Georgia’s gas deal with Russia’s state-owned Gazprom.
While the SSSG did not explicitly refer to the leak, the probe follows reports by several Georgian media outlets, including Formula TV and later Business Media Georgia (BM.ge), that the government on December 25, 2025, published a decree on the official website with an annexed document containing details of a deal between Gazprom Export and the Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation, including gas prices and volumes, despite the information being marked as commercially confidential.
“The investigation was initiated on the basis of information received from the Administration of the Government of Georgia, stating that a suspected cyberattack and certain manipulations were carried out on the Administration’s website,” SSSG said in a statement issued January 15.
According to the security service, “these actions were aimed at damaging the state interests of Georgia by spreading false information in the public space, including causing political and economic consequences harmful to the country.”
The agency said the “criminal act” was later covered in several media outlets and social media, prompting the “immediate” response from SSSG, which recommended “that media representatives and certain individuals refrain from disseminating the information.”
The reports first surfaced in a teaser on January 13 for True Story with Eliso Jariashvili, a program on the opposition-leaning Formula TV channel, which said the GD authorities had made public the details of the deal after years of secrecy. Business Media Georgia (BM.ge) also reported on the decree but later withdrew the document, citing “state interests,” after “the State Security Service contacted bm.ge and asked to correct the material.” Formula TV also blurred the details, citing a similar call received after the teaser aired.
Authorities reportedly also took down the documents following the January 13 teaser.
The SSSG investigation drew criticism from commentators, who alleged that the authorities were attempting to cover up their own mistake by attributing the leak to a cyberattack.
“Instead of admitting their mistake, they advance conspiracy theories,” Roman Gotsiridze, former head of Georgian National Bank and ex-opposition United National Movement lawmaker, wrote on Facebook, calling the announcement “tragicomical.”
According to Gotsiridze, the only justification for the announcement would be an excuse to prevent Gazprom from starting a legal battle over breach of confidentiality. “Even if it starts [lawsuit], Gazprom will be unable to prove that it suffered any damage,” Gotsiridze argued.
Georgia has continued to purchase gas from Russia, with Gazprom recently saying it supplied 40.4% more gas to Georgia in 2025 than in the previous year.
Russia was Georgia’s primary natural gas supplier until 2007. However, following the launch of the Baku–Tbilisi–Erzurum gas pipeline in 2006, the deterioration of bilateral relations amid the 2006 spy row, and the August 2008 war, Georgia gradually shifted its reliance toward Azerbaijani gas. By 2009, imports from Azerbaijan had surpassed those from Russia.
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