Govt Hires Pillsbury Winthrop for U.S. Lobbying

Georgian government has hired law and lobbying firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman to get “advice and assistance on U.S.-Georgia bilateral relation” and in “communicating” with the U.S. administration officials and Congress members.

Under one-year contract, valid from April 1, the government will pay Pillsbury USD 50,000 per month, according to filings submitted late last month by the firm to the U.S. Department of Justice under the Foreign Agent Registration Act.

In 2013-2014 the Georgian government was using services of law and lobbying firm Squire Patton Boggs. The company received about USD 1.34 million from the Georgian government in a period between beginning of 2013 and mid-2014, according to semi-annual reports under Foreign Agent Registration Act.

Pillsbury will hire the Harbour Group, a Washington-based public affairs and communications consultancy, as a subcontractor “to provide additional media services” to the Georgian government, according to the contract. The same public affairs consultancy was a subcontractor of Squire Patton Boggs on Georgian operations.

Under the contact Pillsbury will assist the Georgian government “with respect to supporting U.S.-Georgia bilateral relations and Georgia’s NATO aspirations, communicating with the U.S. government and Congress, supporting relations with media and opinion makers, facilitate arrangement of relevant events and meetings and educating U.S. about developments in Georgia.”

Scope of services, according to the contract, will also include, among others, providing assistance to the Georgian government in “securing demonstrations of support for Georgia” from the U.S. administration officials and Congress members and communicating “developments in Georgia related to rule of law reform”; drafting of press releases, op-eds, letters and speeches; developing media strategy and conducting “outreach to top-tier U.S. media to build the government’s profile internationally”; developing “a study tour program for international journalists and other commentators to visit Georgia, meet with government officials, and see the government’s progress first-hand.”