The Georgian Intelligence Service (GIS) (Georgian: საქართველოს დაზვერვის სამსახური, sakartvelos dazvervis samsakhuri) is a national intelligence agency of Georgia, with its headquarters in Tbilisi. The current chief of the service is Irakli Beraia, appointed in 2024.
The GIS is directly subordinated to the Prime Minister of Georgia. It is responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment and conducting counter-intelligence duties abroad.[1]
After the declaration of independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Georgia established its own intelligence agency, the Service for Information and Intelligence (საინფორმაციო–სადაზვერვო სამსახური), on the basis of the Soviet-eraCommittee for State Security. The Georgian KGB was notable in that it was considered to be one of the most effective of the KGB's regional Soviet branches, under the command of Aleksi Inauri and Givi Gumbaridze for most of its existence.[2][3]
From 1993 to 1997, the SII functioned as the Chief Directorate for Foreign Intelligence (საგარეო დაზვერვის მთავარი სამმართველო) under the Ministry for State Security. On September 19, 1997, the agency was transformed into an independent State Intelligence Department (დაზვერვის სახელმწიფო დეპარტამენტი), with two regional divisions for Adjara and Abkhazia. Being briefly under the Ministry for State Security from 2004 to 2005, the agency was again made independent as the Foreign Intelligence Special Service (საგარეო დაზვერვის სპეციალური სამსახური) on January 24, 2005.
The current name was adopted in compliance with the new intelligence legislation passed in the Parliament of Georgia on April 27, 2010.[1]
^Cherkashin, Victor & Feifer, Gregory (2005), Spy Handler: Memoir of a KGB Officer, p. 125. Basic Books, Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)..
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