Introduction

Transparency International Georgia has evaluated the performance of the Batumi Municipality City Council of the 2021 convocation. The study covers the period from January 1, 2022 to June 1, 2025. This report summarizes the study's key findings and offers recommendations to improve the City Council's performance in the future, should they be implemented. 

The report is based on information requested from the Batumi City Council, Transparency International Georgia’s observations, and media materials. Transparency International Georgia previously released the Batumi City Council performance reports in 2022 and 2023. 

Chapter 1. Key Findings

• The Batumi City Council exercised weak oversight of the municipality’s executive branch, primarily due to the ruling party’s lack of political will to control the City Hall’s activities. 
• The City Council generally considered and supported all initiatives from the City Hall. 
• The City Council did not convene an extraordinary session regarding Mayor Archil Chikovani’s early resignation and did not request an explanation or clarification from him regarding the reasons for his resignation. 
• The City Council did not identify any conflicts of interest, incompatibilities of positions, or violations of the City Council rules of procedure and ethical norms.
• The City Council did not investigate alleged corruption involving Batumi Municipality City Council and City Hall officials, as detailed in various TI Georgia reports.  
• The City Council held 38 sessions and adopted 168 resolutions, 151 of which were initiated and authored by the City Hall, and 17 by the City Council.
• A total of GEL 6,524,896 was spent on salaries for City Council members and office staff. Of this amount, GEL 2,820,873 went to City Council members and GEL 3,704,023 went to office staff.
• The Batumi City Council abolished the Gender Equality Council on April 2, 2025, failing to conduct an analysis of legal acts, examine draft legislative and legal acts, and develop proposals to ensure gender equality. Instead, a Municipal Council on Women and Children’s Issues was established.
• The City Council did not invite an independent auditor.
• Only members of the City Council majority and non-partisan members traveled abroad for business.  

Chapter 2. General Information about the Batumi City Council

The Batumi City Council of the 2021 convocation comprised 35 members, with seven representing single-mandate majoritarian constituencies and 28 members elected through the proportional system. 

• During the reporting period, the Batumi City Council held 38 council sessions and 77 bureau sessions. All City Council meetings were announced in accordance with legal requirements.
• During the reporting period, the City Council held one extraordinary session, initiated by the Mayor of Batumi.
• During the reporting period, the Batumi City Council adopted 168 resolutions and 341 ordinances. 
• During the reporting period, the legal supervision body issued negative opinions on ten legal acts adopted by the Batumi City Council. Six of these opinions were issued in 2024. The Batumi City Council shared all of the negative opinions. 
• During the Batumi City Council’s tenure, five permanent commissions were established, which held a total of 206 sessions throughout the reporting period. The commission sessions were not disrupted due to a lack of quorum.
• During the reporting period, the Batumi City Council commissions submitted 61 draft legal acts to the Council.
• The Batumi City Council’s commissions on legal and procedural issues prepared 45 conclusions on the compliance of draft legal acts to be considered by the Council with legislation. 
• Representatives of the political parties in the Batumi City Council formed two factions: Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia and United National Movement.
• Each faction had a chairperson and four deputy chairpersons. A total of GEL 1,143,123 was allocated for the remuneration of faction officials. 
• Five City Council members did not belong to any faction. 
• In an attempt to better organize its work, the Batumi Municipality City Council operated a City Council Bureau, which included the council chairperson, the first deputy chairperson, the deputy chairpersons, and the commission and faction chairpersons. 
• On July 21, 2023, the mandate of City Council member Lasha Kilaberia, former Chairman of the United National Movement faction, was terminated early because he did not attend Batumi City Council and commission sessions for six months without valid reason.
• Since July 2024, the following members of the United National Movement faction had boycotted City Council and commission sessions: Kakhaber Kashibadze, Revaz Kharazi, Tekla Kavazashvili, Aleksandre Varshalomidze, Ilia Jincharadze, Irakli Zoidze and Irakli Dzidziguri. 
• During the reporting period, one online petition and one petition in material form were registered with the Batumi City Council.
• The online petition “Green Districts in Batumi” was sent to the Education, Culture, Tourism and Sports Commission of the Batumi City Council for consideration. We were informed that the matter is under consideration. The petition “On declaring the last Saturday of each month as a cycling day in Batumi to improve the city’s ecological and transport policy” was not approved by the City Council due to the City Hall’s position. 

Chapter 3. Important Developments

• According to the results of the 2021 local elections, opposition parties won the majority of seats. However, on October 29, Irakli Tavdgiridze quit the Gakharia for Georgia party. 
• Before the newly elected city council convened, on November 18, Nugzar Putkaradze, who had been elected as the majoritarian representative of the United National Movement from the Adlia constituency, passed away. Later, the party released an audio recording in which Putkaradze could be heard being asked to take a “neutral” position in exchange for USD 100,000. Putkaradze’s case remains uninvestigated to this day.
• The December 3, 2021 session, which was set to elect the City Council chairperson, was disrupted due to a lack of quorum. Later, in December 2021 and January 2022, some opposition parties requested a session. However, the quorum could not be reached this time due to the absence of Georgian Dream councilors. Despite the fact that the City Council did not convene even two months after the election, the chairperson of the Georgian Dream faction and five deputy chairpersons received their salaries.  
• The 2022 municipal budget was not discussed and approved by the newly elected City Council, but rather by the previous City Council. Georgian Dream councilors suggested that the opposition, which had won a majority on the City Council in the elections, would not approve the municipal budget. Accordingly, there would be grounds to dismiss the City Council and the mayor. According to amendments to the Local Self-Government Code initiated by the ruling party in 2022, failing to approve the budget within three months of the start of the fiscal year would result in the early termination of the City Council’s powers only. Previously, the Code required the early termination of the powers of both a city council and a mayor. With these fast-tracked amendments, the ruling party avoided holding snap elections for mayors and municipal councils in municipalities where they lacked a solid majority and/or where the opposition coalition held a majority. There were three such municipalities in the country: Rustavi, Chkhorotsku and Zugdidi. 
• After Nugzar Putkaradze’s death, by-elections were scheduled in Batumi’s 4^th electoral district. The ruling party nominated Ramaz Chincharadze as a candidate. In the district where the elections were held - the so-called Dream City - over 300 new voters were registered. According to Transparency International Georgia, the government repeatedly misused administrative resources during the by-elections, which ultimately influenced the election results - the Georgian Dream candidate won a seat on the City Council.
• The ruling party did not have a majority, so in May 2022, it initiated a draft amendment to the Election Code. According to the amendment, a member of a city council elected in by-elections will be able to begin his/her activities as a councilor without the city council recognizing his/her powers. The initiative was also supported by the National Movement in Parliament. Ramaz Jincharadze, who won election, became a City Council member immediately after the summary protocol was published. On May 30, 2022, he was elected Chairperson of the City Council by 17 Georgian Dream councilors and independent member Irakli Tavdgiridze. 
• On October 26, 2023, the Gakharia for Georgia party expelled Natalia Dzidziguri and several other members. Natalia Dzidziguri violated the opposition members’ agreement to boycott the session. The session should have been disrupted due to a lack of quorum, but Dzidziguri remained, creating a quorum for the Georgian Dream. During the same session, she supported increasing the K2 coefficients, the very issue that prompted the opposition’s boycott. 
• Ramaz Jincharadze, a Batumi City Council member, was elected in the illegitimate 2024 Supreme Council of Adjara elections. He subsequently left the City Council. On November 25, 2024, Irakli Tavdgiridze, the First Deputy Chairman, was elected Chairman of the City Council. 
• On May 13, 2025, Batumi Mayor Archil Chikovani resigned and said goodbye to Batumi residents in a Facebook post. He did not submit a performance report to the City Council, nor discuss the reasons for his decision. A few hours before his resignation, Chikovani appointed Giorgi Murvanidze, the deputy head of the Levan Samkharauli National Forensics Bureau, as deputy mayor. Murvanidze had been acting as mayor after his resignation. Murvanidze was introduced to City Hall employees by Sulkhan Tamazashvili, the illegitimate chairman of the Adjara Government sanctioned by the United Kingdom. According to legislation, Tamazashvili should not be directly involved in the management and administration of the municipality and has no connection to the nomination of the mayor or other municipal officials. 

Chapter 4. Implementing Oversight Functions 

On May 13, 2025, Batumi Mayor Archil Chikovani resigned, repeating the events of 2021 when former Batumi Mayor Lasha Komakhidze appointed Chikovani as deputy mayor before resigning himself. Like his predecessor, Chikovani did not submit a performance report to the City Council before resigning, nor did he discuss the reasons for his decision.

• During the reporting period, the Batumi City Council did not discuss any conflicts of interest or incompatibilities of office among its members. Additionally, no misconduct, conflict of interest, or incompatibility of office was revealed in the performance of the Batumi Mayor, including in the state procurement process.
• During the reporting period, the Batumi City Council did not discuss a vote of no confidence in the Batumi Mayor.
• During the reporting period, the Batumi Mayor and other City Hall officials did not submit reports to the Council. In any case, there is no mention of them in the public information provided to us.
• The Batumi City Council did not provide information on reports submitted regarding state procurements carried out by the City Hall from 2022 to 2025.
• The City Council took note of the annual reports on the implementation of the budgets for 2022, 2023 and 2024, as well as the first quarter report on the implementation of the budget for 2025, all of which were submitted by the Batumi Mayor. 
• During the reporting period, 11 City Council members addressed the Batumi Mayor and other officials with questions and requests for information. All eleven questions were answered in a timely manner. 
• During the reporting period, the Batumi City Council made 11 amendments to the local budget. The Batumi Mayor was the initiator and author of all amendments. The City Council shared and approved all draft amendments to the budget. 
• The City Council did not provide information on how many opinions, remarks, conclusions, or recommendations from various factions or individual councilors were taken into account by the Mayor.
• During the reporting period, the Batumi City Council did not invite an independent auditor to evaluate the performance of municipal bodies.
• During the reporting period, the Batumi City Council supported all issues submitted by the Batumi Mayor. 
• In 2022, the Batumi City Council adopted two resolutions: one on fees and another on taxes. On November 25, 2024, the Council amended Resolution No. 2, dated January 31, 2011, “On the Introduction of Local Taxes in the Territory of Batumi Municipality”. 
• During the reporting period, the Batumi Municipality City Council did not reveal any violations of its rules of procedure or the Code of Ethics.

Chapter 5. Issues Initiated by the City Council 

• During the reporting period, the Batumi Municipality City Council discussed 45 issues on its own initiative. Among them, 35 issues were initiated by the majority members and concerned increasing labor remuneration and placing memorial plaques for famous and meritorious individuals. The Council resolved these issues positively. 
• Spatial-territorial planning documents were submitted to the Batumi City Council 11 times. The Council approved all documents by resolution, though their specific content is unknown.  
• In 2022, the Batumi City Council approved the “Plan for the Replacement of Dilapidated Multi-Apartment Residential Buildings on the Territory of the Batumi Municipality.” 
• The City Council Bureau did not include Akaki Gvianidze’s initiative “On the Establishment of a Temporary Working Group to Study the Issue of Dilapidated Houses in Batumi and the Approval of the Regulation” in the agenda of the City Council session. 
• The City Council forwarded the initiative “On Establishing a Zero (Free) Tariff for Municipal Bus Travel in the Territory of Batumi” to the City Hall for consideration and feedback.
• The City Council also forwarded independent councilor Natalia Dzidzguri’s initiative “On the Establishment of a Multi-party Anti-corruption Commission in the Batumi Municipality City Council” to the City Hall. 
• The initiative proposed by Ketevan Lastakanidze, a member of the Ahali party, “On Making Amendments and Additions to the Resolution of the Self-Governing City of Batumi City Council No. 4-1 of February 27, 2009, on the Rules for Approval of the General Land Use Plan of the Self-Governing City of Batumi and Other Spatial and Territorial Planning (Urban Development) Documentation,” was not included in the agenda due to its contradiction with current legislation.
• The Council rejected the initiative proposed by Vazha Darchia, a member of the Lelo for Georgia party, “On the Addition of the Interpellation Rule to the Rules of Procedure of the Batumi City Hall.” 
• The City Council did not consider Akaki Gvianidze’s initiative “Providing School Meals to Primary School Students in Public Schools” because it was not presented as a draft legal act. 
• During the reporting period, the Mayor submitted three draft legal acts to the Batumi City Council for approval of contracts concluded in the name of the municipality, the value of which exceeded 5% of the municipal budget payments. The City Council approved all three.

Chapter 6. Business Connections, Undeclared Assets, Incompatible Activities

• In September 2022, Transparency International Georgia published a study, which found that three Batumi City Council officials - Neriman Tsintsadze, Davit Makharadze and Levan Dolidze – had inaccurately filled out their asset declarations.
• The companies of the father of Levan Dolidze, the Deputy Chairman of the Batumi City Council faction “Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia”: LLC “Bondi 2009” and LLC “Monolith 2005” continue to participate in procurements announced by municipal organizations, from which they receive hundreds of millions of GEL in income. 
• Initially in 2023 and again in 2024, Transparency International Georgia published information about questionable, corrupt deals involving Akaki Beridze, the Director of Batumi’s Division of Urban Infrastructure and Improvements.  
• In December 2023, Transparency International Georgia published information about conflicts of interest and alleged corruption involving Archil Kontselidze, the Director of the Batumi Municipal Inspection, and his family members. 
• In September 2024, we revealed that a major donor to the Georgian Dream party had used the territory of the Batumi Municipality-owned autodrome located near New Boulevard without authorization. 

We provided the relevant state and municipal institutions with information on all of the above facts, along with the attached documents, but none of them responded.  

Chapter 7. Gratuitous Transfer of Property to the State

• During the reporting period, the Batumi City Council transferred 12 plots of land, 11 properties, and 14 residential apartments registered in Batumi to the state and the Autonomous Republic of Adjara free of charge. 
• In 2023, the Batumi City Council transferred the design and cost accounting documentation prepared for the dismantling of a building located on Tbel Abuseridze Street in Batumi and the construction of an emergency aid building to the Autonomous Republic of Adjara free of charge.
• On July 21, 2023, the Batumi City Council gave the City Hall its consent to transfer six buses owned by the Batumi Municipality to the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, free of charge. The City Council gave City Hall a similar consent in 2025. 
• On August 25, 2023, the Batumi City Council approved the free transfer of 7,300 square meters of secondary paving, owned by the Batumi Municipality, to the Georgian Patriarchate for permanent use.

Chapter 8. Expenditures of the Batumi City Council

• During the reporting period, a total of GEL 6,524,896 was spent on salaries for City Council members and office staff. Of this amount, GEL 2,820,873 was allocated to City Council members, while GEL 3,704,023 went to office staff.
• During the reporting period, the City Council members did not receive bonuses or supplements. Office staff received bonuses totaling GEL 246,873 and supplements totaling GEL 27,783. 
• Except for 2025, a total of GEL 64,590 was spent on business trips for City Council members and office staff. Of this amount, GEL 46,139 was spent on trips abroad and GEL 18,451 on trips within the country. 
• Tengiz Apkhazava, chairman of the City Council faction “Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia”, travelled to Tbilisi seven times on business.
• In 2022-2024, only the majority members and independent councilors took business trips abroad: Ramaz Jincharadze, Irakli Tavdgiridze, Nino Tskhvaradze, Rostom Khalvashi, Giorgi Lomtatidze, Levan Tskhoidze, Tengiz Apkhazava and Natalia Zoidze. 
• During the reporting period, 13 cars were allocated to City Council officials and staff. GEL 216,862 was spent on fuel for these cars. 
• GEL 82,471 was spent on telephone communications for City Council members and staff, and GEL 74,016 was spent on vehicle repairs and maintenance.

Chapter 9. Problems and Recommendations 

• The City Council formally oversaw the performance of officials and agencies accountable to it. City Council members should exercise their right to ask questions more often, summon municipal officials and, if necessary, discuss a vote of no confidence in the mayor. 
• In the event of the mayor’s premature resignation, City Council members should demand an explanation from the mayor regarding reasons for the resignation. 
• The City Council should use its authority to invite an independent auditor to evaluate City Hall’s performance.  
• The City Council should require city hall officials to submit reports to the City Council. 
• City Council members should prevent unauthorized individuals from interfering with the municipality’s management.  
• The City Council should investigate alleged corruption deals involving municipal officials and possible conflicts of interest, and respond effectively. 
• The City Council should encourage greater citizen involvement in the local self-government process and allow citizens to attend city council and commission sessions. 
• The City Council should encourage citizen involvement in preparing and discussing the municipal budget.