Introduction

Transparency International Georgia has evaluated the performance of the Zugdidi Municipality City Council of the 2021 convocation. The report is based on information requested from the City Council, the data available on the City Council’s official website, and our organization’s observations. The study covers the period from November 2021 to May 2025.

Transparency International Georgia has evaluated the performance of the Zugdidi City Council three times: the first evaluation covered the period from November 2017 through 2019; the second study assessed the performance in 2020; and the third evaluation covered 2022.

Chapter 1. Key Findings

• The reporting period saw some improvements in the Zugdidi City Council’s performance of its oversight function over the work of the City Hall and legal entities, largely due to the fact that the opposition political parties constituted the majority in the 2021 City Council convocation, while the Georgian Dream was in the minority.
• The City Council’s failure to identify conflicts of interest or any other irregularities in the public procurement process is concerning, despite individual councilors openly discussing the issue. 
• The amendments to the Local Self-Government Code, initiated by the ruling party, have significantly diminished the City Council’s role. The most problematic amendments were introduced in December 2022. They stipulate that if the budget is not approved within three months of the start of the fiscal year, the City Council’s powers will be terminated early. Under the previous version of the code, the powers of both the mayor and the City Council would have been terminated early.
• The Zugdidi City Council did not support individual initiatives of the City Hall or its services, and negatively assessed the activities of several legal entities of the City Hall.
• Having heard reports from Zugdidi municipal services and legal entities established by the municipality, the City Council formulated conclusions and recommendations on their performance, which were approved by a decree of the City Council Bureau.
• During the reporting period, the Zugdidi City Council held 87 sessions, 49 of which were extraordinary and were convened by the Mayor of the Municipality. Due to a lack of quorum, City Council meetings were disrupted several times, including four times in 2011 and 11 times in 2025.
• During the reporting period, the Zugdidi City Council adopted 158 resolutions, 139 of which were initiated by the Zugdidi City Hall and 19 by the City Council. 
• Out of the members of the Zugdidi City Council, only one, Irakli Gogokhia, submitted an inaccurate declaration.
• Unlike the City Council of the previous convocation, the factions in the City Council of the 2021 convocation worked intensively submitting a total of 89 written initiatives.
• As of August 2025, the total expenditures for the factions’ activities amounted to GEL 1,916,531, of which GEL 1,801,367 was allocated for wages.
• Of the 14 female councilors, seven held positions, including three commission chairpersons, one faction chairperson, and three deputy faction chairpersons.
• The Gender Equality Council did not analyze legal acts or carry out an expert review of draft legislation. Nor did it introduce the system of monitoring and evaluation of measures implemented to ensure gender equality.
• The rate of unexcused absences from Zugdidi City Council and commission meetings was consistently high.
• The Zugdidi City Council spent GEL 6,708,143 during the reporting period, of which GEL 5,655,439 was allocated for wages.
• Unlike the City Council of the previous convocation, the City Council of the 2021 convocation did not use the vehicles owned by the Municipality. The fuel limit for the Chairman of the City Council was reduced from 700 to 400 liters, and for the Deputy Chairpersons - from 400 to 350 liters.
• During the reporting period, the City Council consumed 122,303 liters of fuel worth a total of GEL 341,823.

Chapter 2. General Information about the Zugdidi City Council

The Zugdidi City Council had 45 members, 15 of whom were elected in single-mandate majoritarian electoral districts and 30 members were elected proportionally. The Zugdidi City Council is one of those representative bodies in which no political party managed to obtain a clear majority in the 2021 local elections.

• As of August 2025, the Zugdidi City Council had held 87 sessions, including 49 extraordinary sessions convened by the mayor of the municipality.
• Due to a lack of quorum, City Council sessions were disrupted several times, including four times in 2024 and 11 times in 2025.
• During the reporting period, the Zugdidi City Council adopted 158 resolutions, 139 of which were initiated by the City Hall and 19 by the City Council.
• During the Zugdidi City Council’s tenure, five permanent commissions were established, which held a total of 385 sessions throughout the reporting period. The commission sessions were disrupted 40 times due to a lack of quorum.
• The commissions submitted 493 issues to the City Council for consideration.
• Three factions operated within the Zugdidi City Council - the United National Movement (operating under the name Ahali since April 2024), Zugdidi for Georgia, and Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia.
• The City Council factions submitted 89 written initiatives.
• The expenses of the Zugdidi City Council factions amounted to GEL 1,916,531 as of August 2025. Of this amount, GEL 1,801,367 was spent on labor remuneration.
• The rate of unexcused absences from Zugdidi City Council and commission meetings was consistently high.
• The Supervisory Body prepared 10 conclusions/comments on legal acts adopted by the Zugdidi City Council, all of which were accepted by the City Council.
• Out of the 45 City Council members, 14 were women, accounting for 31.1% of the total number. Seven of them held official positions.
• Nine petitions were registered during the reporting period (2022-2024). No petitions were registered in 2025.

Chapter 3. Political Crisis and Weakening of the Role of City Councils

After the October 2021 local self-government elections, Zugdidi was one of the municipalities where the problems of local democracy worsened.

• Due to political confrontation or disagreements between the parties, the Zugdidi City Council Chairman was not elected for two months after the City Council’s first meeting on December 3, 2021. He was finally elected on February 14, 2022, on the sixth attempt. Giga Parulava, a representative of the Gakharia for Georgia party, was elected Chairman, and the First Deputy Chairman of the City Council was also elected from the same party. The two vacant deputy chair positions were filled by United National Movement representatives. Members of the United National Movement and Gakharia for Georgia parties shared the commission chairperson positions. Representatives of the Georgian Dream did not participate in the election of officials. They also refused to nominate their own candidates for deputy chairman of the city council and commission chairman positions.
• Zugdidi was one of the municipalities where the ruling party had the city council elected in 2017 adopt the 2022 budget in an unprecedentedly accelerated manner. Logically, the new city council should have approved the 2022 budget, since it would be responsible for overseeing it in the future. However, previous city councils adopted the 2022 budgets in municipalities where Georgian Dream representatives were elected mayors and opposition parties held a majority in the city councils. The ruling party tried to avoid an undesirable scenario in which local political processes developed^[1]. Then-Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili encouraged this process when he stated that Georgian Dream holds central power and the opposition “could not take a single step” without them at the local level.
• The amendments to the Local Self-Government Code, which were initiated by the ruling party and introduced in December 2022, have significantly diminished the City Council’s role. Under the previous version of the Code, failing to approve the budget within three months of the start of the fiscal year resulted in the early termination of powers of both the mayor and the City Council. However, the amendments imposed this responsibility solely on the City Council. As a result, city councils are likely to be less inclined to take a different position on the draft budget, especially in municipal councils where no party holds a clear majority.

Chapter 4. Oversight over Bodies Accountable to the City Council

The Zugdidi City Council of the 2021 convocation performed its oversight function better than the previous City Council:

• The rate at which representatives of the City Hall and municipal legal entities were invited to the City Council to discuss individual issues increased significantly.
• The City Council studied the activities of Zugdidi Municipality’s legal entities.
• The City Council has repeatedly rejected individual initiatives of the City Hall or its services.
• The City Council has negatively assessed the activities of individual legal entities of the City Hall several times.

Chapter 5. Incomplete Asset Declarations and Incompatible Activities

Of the Zugdidi City Council officials, only one submitted an inaccurate asset declaration: Irakli Gogokhia, the chairman of the Zugdidi City Council’s Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia faction.

In the January 2025 declaration, Gogokhia listed all the companies he owns shares of: LLC “Zugpetroil”, LLC “Oil Pro”, LLC “Oil Pro Group”, LLC “Imedi 2”, LLC “Victoria 2012” and LLC “Gypsy”. Although the declaration indicates the transfer of shares with the right to manage them, the business registry does not show any record of this transfer, despite the requirements of the Law of Georgia on the Fight Against Corruption.

Chapter 6. Gratuitous Transfer of Property to the State

During the reporting period, the Zugdidi City Council transferred the following property to the state free of charge:

• Land plots in eight villages within the municipality, with a total area of ​​3,871 sq. m., including seven buildings located on them, so that the state could subsequently sell this property to the N(N)LE “Georgian Medical Holding” for the symbolic price of GEL 1. Medical clinics would then be established on these plots.
• A 137 square-meter non-agricultural land plot located in the village of Narazeni, which the state was to subsequently transfer to the ownership of the Georgian Patriarchate.
• A 787-square-meter land plot located on David Agmashenebeli Avenue in Zugdidi, which was to be transferred to the Georgian Patriarchate.
• A 383-square-meter land plot in the village of Anaklia, which was sold directly to the N(N)LE Georgian Medical Holding for a symbolic price of GEL 1 to build an outpatient clinic.
• A 2565.00-square-meter non-agricultural land plot in the village of Chitatskari in Zugdidi to be transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia for permanent use.
• A 355-square-meter non-agricultural land plot in the village of Oktomberi in Zugdidi.
• A 73-square-meter non-agricultural land plot located in the village of Anaklia in Zugdidi.
• A 22-square-meter non-agricultural land plot located at 7 Gamsakhurdia Avenue in Zugdidi.

The current practice of municipalities transferring property to the state contains a number of flaws. Local governments should dispose of the property on their territories independently, without the participation of the central government.

Chapter 7. Important Documents Adopted by the City Council:

• In 2023, the Zugdidi City Council adopted the Rules for the Care and Population Control of Domestic Animals on the Territory of Zugdidi Municipality. According to these rules, Zugdidi City Hall was required to establish a legal entity of private law (commercial) specializing in this matter by June 1, 2024, and to organize a shelter by June 1, 2025.
• The Zugdidi City Council did not approve the report on the execution of the Zugdidi Municipality budget for 2022.
• After hearing reports from Zugdidi municipal services and legal entities established by the municipality, the City Council made conclusions and recommendations regarding the performance of these services and entities, which were approved by the decree of the City Council Bureau.
• The Zugdidi City Council negatively assessed the performance reports of individual municipal legal entities.
• The City Council abolished telephone communication expenses for City Council members, reimbursing only staff expenses.
• The Zugdidi City Council reduced the monthly fuel limits for the City Council Chairman and his deputies.

Chapter 9. Citizen Engagement in the City Council’s Activities 

The Zugdidi City Council has adopted regulations ensuring citizen engagement in municipal activities, including those of the City Council:

• During the reporting period, nine petitions were submitted to the City Council.
• An electronic petition submission system has not yet been introduced.
• Open-door sessions were held where speakers, including voters and representatives of various organizations, provided the City Council with information on challenges in specific communities or settlements.
• The City Council, together with the City Hall, held public budget discussions.
• City Council members participated in “general meetings of settlements” and the implementation of the Rural Support Program.

Chapter 11. Expenditures of the Zugdidi City Council

During the reporting period, the Zugdidi City Council’s total expenses amounted to GEL 6,708,143.

• The majority of these expenses, GEL 5,655,439 (84.3% of the total) were allocated to labor remuneration.
• A total of GEL 330,787 was paid in awards to City Council office employees.
• Reimbursement of expenses incurred for City Council membership amounted to GEL 621,130.
• Telephone communication expenses, used only by office employees, amounted to GEL 24,089.
• Business trip expenses amounted to GEL 5,669 during the reporting period.
• The City Council consumed 122,303 liters of fuel for a total cost of GEL 341,823.

Unlike the previous convocation, the City Council of the 2021 convocation did not use municipally owned vehicles. The fuel limit for the Chairman of the City Council was reduced from 700 liters to 400 liters, and for the Deputy Chairmen, from 400 liters to 350 liters.

Recommendations

Today, Georgia is experiencing a total decline in democratic standards, political polarization, and a severe weakening of the role of self-governments. In order to develop local democracy, it is necessary to:

• Establish a legislative framework that ensures the independence of municipalities and their representative bodies - city councils.
• Strengthen mechanisms of balance, mutual oversight, and transparency at the local level.
• The City Council should be given formal and real levers to oversee and hold accountable the executive branch of government - City Hall.
• The City Council’s independence should be protected and guaranteed by legislation so that it can fully and effectively control the policies and administrative processes implemented by City Hall, without any political pressure.

The aforementioned transformations will only become possible if a democratically elected parliament, which is based on pluralistic values, ​​creates legislation that is not aimed at protecting narrow party interests, but rather establishes citizen-oriented local self-government - transparent, accountable, and truly effective.