Cases of alleged corruption are increasingly on the rise in the regions of Georgia. Companies associated with public officials and Bidzina Ivanishvili are obtaining large contracts from public procurers.

The document collects those suspicious Tenders and simplified procurements that “Transparency International - Georgia '' investigated at different times and officially addressed the relevant state structures to respond to the alleged corruption cases that appeared in these procurements.

These companies have received more than GEL 2,150,000,000 in total in the past 10 years:

       Adjara / 736 469 823 GEL

1. Companies of relatives of Anzor Bolkvadze, the majoritarian MP of the high-mountain municipalities of Adjara, have received a total of GEL 16,520,805 from public procurements in the years 2016-2023.

TI Georgia last wrote about the public procurements of 4 companies linked with Anzor Bolkvadze – Giga 2015 LLC, Aisi LLC, Kede LLC, and Roda LLC – in 2020. Since then, the income received from procurements has increased by more than GEL 6 million. 

2. Companies connected with Irakli Topuridze, a former member of the Batumi City Council, Adjarganateba and Ganateba, win tenders without competition in the municipalities of Adjara – the companies have received GEL 79,627,110. 

A 100% stake in Adjarganateba is fully owned by Zoia Dolidze, the mother of a former member of the Batumi City Council, Irakli Topuridze. This company was founded by Irakli Topuridze’s father, Tamaz Topuridze, who was also a member of the Batumi City Council in the years 2010-2014.  As of today, the family has fully bought back the stakes in the company, and it is now headed by Irakli Topuridze’s brother, Nikoloz Topuridze. 

On his part, Nikoloz Topuridze owns a 100% stake in Ganateba LLC and participates in public procurements, mostly without competition. Whereas Adjarganateba is the main supplier of outdoor lighting services in Batumi, Ganataba is active in the municipalities of Khelvachauri and Kobuleti.  

3. The company of Badri Romanadze, the former Head of the Architecture Service of Kobuleti – Georgian Stone – has obtained procurement contracts worth GEL 62,046,920 in the years 2015-2023. From this amount, GEL 47,640,633 was received from non-competitive tenders in Kobuleti and Poti. 

The director of Georgian Stone, Badri Romanadze, was the Head of the Architecture Service at the Kobuleti City Hall in the years 2011-2014. It was after he left the civil service and was appointed as the company’s director that Georgian Stone started to win public procurements announced by the Kobuleti Municipality.  

4. The companies of Nukri Dolidze, the father of a member of the Batumi City Council, Levan Dolidze, have received more than GEL 238 million from public procurements. More than 74% of this amount was received without competition – by means of disqualification of rival companies and through simplified procurement contracts.  

Previously, Nukri Dolidze himself was a member of the Batumi City Council. The favored position of his and his family members’ companies in public procurements once again reveals the severity of the so-called revolving door problem. The report of the State Audit Office (SAO) directly indicated cases when Monoliti 2005 and Bondi 2009 had won in a non-competitive environment. Nukri and Levan Dolidze, as well as individuals linked with them, donate funds mostly to ruling parties. It has evolved as malpractice that representatives of business fund a political party when it becomes the ruling party. TI Georgia periodically publishes reports on such practice.

Levan Dolidze was first appointed as an advisor/consultant to the Government of Adjara on issues of infrastructure and then became a member of the Batumi City Council.

5. The companies of a member of the Batumi City Council, Irakli Pataridze, and his son-in-law, have received GEL 1,407,584 from the municipal procurements of Batumi.

These companies received 67% of their income from those municipal legal entities of Batumi which Irakli Pataridze was obligated to supervise.    

6. Zoma LLC, a company linked with current and former employees of the Kobuleti City Hall, has received GEL 1,358,938 from public procurements, including GEL 1,344,876 from the Kobuleti Municipality; 85% of this income was received through non-competitive tenders and simplified procurements.   

The director of the company, Otar Zoidze, is the former head of the municipal limited liability company, Kobuleti Water, while Fati Jintcharadze, the spouse of his deputy, Gia Goliadze, is the Head of the Financial Service of the Kobuleti City Hall. The reports of the SAO reveal that Zoma is also a subcontractor of other companies that have won public tenders.

7. The Esia Group company, which is connected with the Beridze brothers, high-ranking officials in Adjara, has received up to GEL 2 million from the public procurements of Adjara.

Esia Group LLC has been participating in public tenders since July 2021, receiving GEL 1,869,747. This company was founded by Irakli Aznaurishvili, a former business partner of Akaki Beridze, Director of the Batumi municipal N(N)LE City Infrastructure and Amenities Department. Esia Group is a subcontractor of companies that have won tenders of the Keda City Hall and the Roads Department of Adjara and receives a considerable income from them. The Mayor of Keda, Roland Beridze, and the First Deputy Head of the Roads Department of Adjara, Raul Beridze, are brothers of Akaki Beridze.

8. Giorgi Chkonia is a businessman close to the authorities and a large donor of the Georgian Dream. In the years 2011-2023, he received a revenue of GEL 335,638,719 from public procurements.  

Giorgi Chkonia owns stakes in 20 companies and serves as the director of three companies.  These companies, in their turn, are owners of stakes in other companies. Three of Giorgi Chkonia’s companies – Gza LLC, Batumi Central LLC, and Chateau Kvirike LLC – participate actively in public procurements. Giorgi Chkonia and his business partners have donated a total of GEL 1,394,000 to the ruling party and the presidential candidate, Salome Zurabishvili. 

Samtskhe-Javakheti / 409 441 633 GEL

1. The companies of the former Mayor or Akhaltsikhe, Zaza Melikidze, and his relatives have obtained procurement contracts worth GEL 1,976,194 since 2015.

On the basis of the study we had published, the Anti-Corruption Agency of the State Security Service launched an investigation into the case of Zaza Melikidze. However, the companies of Zaza Melikidze and his relatives continued to participate in public procurements even after that, receiving a total of GEL 752,686 during this period. Today Zaza Melikidze is no longer the mayor of the municipality; he is a member of the city council elected in 2021 from the Georgian Dream.  

2. The company of Gervas Geladze, advisor to the former Mayor of Akhaltsikhe, Zaza Melikidze, has obtained procurement contracts worth GEL 6,375,958 since 2014.

At the time of publication of our study, the company had received GEL 4,096,286. At that time, the SAO established a violation in these procurements and Gervas Geladze even ceded his stake in the company, although the company continues to obtain public procurements to this day.

3. The companies of the family of Enzel Mkoyan, the majoritarian MP of Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda, obtained procurement contracts worth GEL 2,049,668 in the years 2012-2020.

From February 2021, when the Georgian Dream no longer nominated Enzel Mkoyan as the candidate for majoritarian MP, public agencies stopped awarding procurement contracts to his companies.    

4. The company of the brother of the former Chairperson of the Aspindza City Council, Mamuka Melikidze, has obtained procurement contracts worth GEL 1,980,567 in the years 2016-2023.                                                                                                        

Before Mamuka Melikidze became a public official, his brother’s company had not participated in the tenders of the Aspindza Municipality. After Mamuka Melikidze joined the City Council, JSC 21^st Century received GEL 740,065 from tenders announced by the Aspindza Municipality in the years 2016-2019. Today Mamuka Melikidze is only a member of the Aspindza City Council, although the revenues of his brother’s company from public procurements have increased by an additional GEL 1,240,502.

5. The company of the Deputy Chairperson of the Ninotsminda City Council, Konstantin Vardanyan, has obtained procurements of GEL 2,177,645 since 2014.  

At the time of publication of our study, Konstantin Vardanyan’s company had received only GEL 320,645 from the budget. After that, he ceded the company, and it has been owned by his spouse to this day. He ran in the local elections again in 2021 and became the Chairperson of the City Council again. 

6. The company that is involved in projects planned by Bidzina Ivanishvili in Abastumani and owned by a donor of the Georgian Dream, Demetre Tateshvili, has obtained procurement contracts worth GEL 363,385,030 in the years 2018-2023. We published a blog post on the procurements of Arali LLC in May 2021, and, according to the figures of that time (2018-2021), the company had received GEL 125,454,712 from procurements, which means that in the past two years, this company has received up to GEL 238 million through public procurements. 

The amount transferred from the budget to Arali LLC has increased by tens of millions of lari since August 2018, when the then owner of the company, Otar Tateshvili, sold a land plot with an area of 450 sq .m in Abastumani to Bidzina Ivanishvili for building a private house. Whereas the company had previously received a total of GEL 51,585,275 through tenders in seven years, by the tenders won in the following four and a half years, it has been awarded contracts with a value of up to GEL 260 million.

7. The company of Revaz Mumladze, the head of security at Bidzina Ivanishvili’s residence in Bakuriani and the former director of the Regional Main Police Division of Samtskhe-Javakheti, received GEL 237,534 through public procurements in 2020.
8. The company of the son of Nodar Talakhadze, chairperson of commission at the City Council of the Akhaltsikhe Municipality, has received GEL 10,900,956 from public procurements. Of this amount, the company received 37% from the Akhaltsikhe City Hall. 

Company L S Georgia LLC is one of more than 10 companies owned by the Tateshvili family; it was founded by Eka Tateshvili in 2014. However, the company started to obtain public procurements from February 4, 2020, after Eka Tateshvili ceded the director’s position and a 50% stake in the limited liability company to her spouse, Tariel Talakhadze, Nodar Talakhadze’s son. The company won all tenders except one in the Akhaltsikhe Municipality without competition or by means of disqualification of competitors. In the one exceptional case, too, its competitor was Arali LLC.

9. The former Head of the Infrastructure Service of the Akhaltsikhe City Hall, Nodar Balakhashvili, obtained public procurement worth GEL 129,552 in the years 2018-2020. 

Since the publication of our study, Nodar Balakhashvili’s company has no longer participated in public procurements.

10. The company of Koba Gelashvili, a member of the Akhaltsikhe City Council from the Georgian Dream for two terms, received GEL 1,699,980 from public procurements in the years 2017-2021.
11. From various studies, we have discovered that companies connected with former public officials still continue to obtain public procurements using the so-called “revolving door” mechanism in the Borjomi Municipality and that such revenues have reached GEL 8,893,008.

Companies connected with the former Head of the Infrastructure Service of the Borjomi Municipality, Giorgi Kipiani, have received GEL 5,477,175 in the years 2014-2023; the company of the Chairperson of the Majoritarians faction at the City Council of the Borjomi Municipality, Piran Gogichashvili, has received GEL 2,506,833 from public procurements since 2018; the company of the spouse of the head of a municipal N(N)LE of Borjomi, Vazha Gelashvili, received GEL 909,000 from public procurements in 2020.

12. The private company of Martin Gabrielyan, the director of a municipal N(N)LE of Akhalkalaki, received GEL 1,390,861 from public procurements in the years 2019-2022.

From the amount received from procurements, the company received GEL 667,186 (47.9% of the total amount) from the budget of Akhalkalaki. After the publication of our study, the State Procurement Agency established violations in the public procurements of Martin Gabrielyani’s company and the Akhalkalaki City Hall, on the basis of which the Tbilisi City Court gave an oral warning to members of the tendering commission of the Akhalkalaki City Hall.  

13.   A company connected with Bidzina Ivanishvili, which owns a rugby training base in Aspindza, received GEL 567,167 from public procurements in the years 2016-2023.                                                                          

14. The company's Khachik Mosoyan, a former high-ranking official of the Akhalkalaki police and a donor of the Georgian Dream, received GEL 2,687,008 in the years 2014-2022. From this amount, GEL 1,928,488 (71.7%) was received from the Akhalkalaki City Hall, where the brother of his daughter-in-law served as the Head of the Legal Service for six years.              
15. The companies of Gela Chalidze, a member of the Akhaltsikhe City Council from the Georgian Dream and a donor of the same party, have received GEL 244,146 in total from direct public procurements since October 2021. Gela Chalidze’s companies received almost 60% of this amount, GEL 141,533, from the City Hall of the Akhaltsikhe Municipality and its legal entities. 
16. Razmik Ghumashyan, the uncle of the Deputy Chairperson of the Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia faction at the Ninotsminda City Council and a donor of the Georgian Dream, received GEL 2,840,710 from the procurements of the Ninotsminda City Hall in the years 2013-2023. From this amount, GEL 1,759,795 (61.9%) was received through disqualification of other participants in tenders and without competition, as well as through direct procurements. Ghumashyan was the director of a natural gas company owned by the family of Enzel Mkoyan, a former majoritarian MP from the Georgian Dream, for more than 10 years.
17. Giorgi Endeladze was appointed as the Mayor’s Representative to the Khevasheni administrative district of the Adigeni Municipality in 2015. Since then, his brothers’ companies have received GEL 1,905,649 through 244 public procurement contracts. Of this, they received GEL 896,271 (47%) from the Adigeni City Hall and its legal entities.

Shida Kartli / 353 199 362 GEL

1. Companies of former public officials and donors of Georgian Dream obtained procurements worth GEL 162,498,685 in Shida Kartli in the years 2013-2020.
2. Companies connected with Ioseb Makrakhidze, a former majoritarian MP of Gori, have obtained public procurement contracts worth GEL 190,700,677 since 2016.  

Ioseb Makrakhidze was a member of the Parliament of Georgia in the years 2016-2020, and in these years, his companies and those connected with him – Ibolia LLC, Shara LLC and Arkmshenstudia 2002 LLC – received more than GEL 91.8 million from public procurements. These companies mainly won without competition, while the procuring entities were mostly Gori and other municipalities of Shida Kartli. 

Kakheti /  421 000 000 GEL

1. The company of the mother of Giorgi Zedelashvili, the former First Deputy Secretary of the State Security and Crisis Management Council, has obtained procurement contracts worth more than GEL 254 million in the years 2013-2023. In 2021-2023 and the first quarter of this year alone, this company has won tenders with a value of up to GEL 152 million , 32% of which were won in a non-competitive environment.

Giorgi Zedelashvili worked in law enforcement structures, including in high positions, from 1994; after the Georgian Dream came into power, he was appointed as the First deputy Minister of Internal Affairs/acting Director of the State Security Agency (Department). Until the end of 2017, Giorgi Zedelashvili held the position of the First Deputy Secretary of the State Security and Crisis Management Council. Giorgi Zedelashvili is associated with a number of processes under way in Kakheti. He is particularly active in the municipalities of Kvareli, Telavi, Dedoplistskaro, and Sighnaghi. Zedelashvili is thought to be a member of Irakli Garibashvili’s close circle.

2. Companies linked with former or current officials in 8 municipalities of Kakheti obtained procurements with a total value of GEL 167 million in the years 2013-2020.

Imereti / 131 994 071 GEL

1. The husband of the sister-in-law of Bidzina Ivanishvili’s sister, Murman Togonidze, has obtained public procurement contracts worth GEL 33,688,809 since 2014.  

In a blog post published in June 2020, we wrote that Murman Togonidze had obtained procurement contracts worth GEL 16,395,591 from 2014 to the publication day of the blog post. The amount received in the past three years is almost twice as much.

2. The companies of Jeiran Omanadze, a member of the Tskaltubo City Council – J and J LLC and Rostverki LLC – have received GEL 63,039,857 in total since 2013. 

This amount was accumulated by means of 100 tenders and 11 simplified procurements. Jeiran Omanadze is also a political donor; he and his company Rostverki donated GEL 135,000 to the Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia party in the years 2017-2021.

3. The tenders of the municipalities of Zestafoni, Terjola, and Baghdati are won by Borani  LLC, a company with links to the Georgian Dream, whose main activity is the arrangement, maintenance and repairs of road surfaces. From 2013 to the end of 2022, the company won tenders and obtained simplified procurements worth GEL 34,970,860.

The mother of the current director of Borani LLC, Beka Arabidze – Nino Chkhikvadze, who used to own a 22 % stake in the company, has ties with the Georgian Dream. Currently, she is the Deputy Chairperson of the Terjola City Council. Today, a 66% stake in the company is owned by Nino Chkhikvadze’s mother, Tamar Garibashvili. This stake used to be the property of her husband, Amiran Chkhvadze, before he passed away. He had founded Borani LLC in 1998 together with his business partners and served as its director until 2020.  In the years 2017 and 2020, Amiran Chkhikvadze donated GEL 60,000 in total to the Georgian Dream.

4. The company that belongs to a business partner of the Deputy Mayor of Kutaisi, Iuza Ugulava – Liko-1 – wins tenders announced by the Kutaisi Municipality. In the years 2019-2021, the total value of the contracts amounted to GEL 294,545.

It should be noted that Iuza Ugulava has been presiding over the tendering commission himself since 2019. According to the applicable law, Iuza Ugulava was obligated to state about the conflict of interest (because the owner of a stake in the company participating in the tenders and its director is his business partner) and stop participating in the process of consideration of the said procurements.

Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti / 96 703 744 GEL

1. The companies of a member of the Parliament of Georgia from the Georgian Dream and a member of the parliamentary majority, Viktor Japaridze, and his family members have obtained procurement contracts worth GEL 7,775,565 since 2018.  
2. The company of Viktor Japaridze’s brother-in-law, Aleko Khvistani, has received GEL 6,549,941 from tenders and presumably GEL 13,077,076 from classified procurements.

Aleko Khvistani is the director of Electric Installation Service LLC, while a 50% stake in this company is owned by his spouse, Maia Chelidze. This company has been participating in and winning classified procurements since Viktor Japaridze’s relatives appeared in its management. Viktor Japaridze’s son, Otar Japaridze, is an employee of the State Security Service.

3. Koruldi LLC, the company of Davit Chartolani, the former Deputy Head of the Municipal Administration of Bolnisi, has obtained procurements worth GEL 5,086,948 from the Mestia Municipality in the years 2020-2023.     

Davit Chartolani was in charge of the election headquarters of the Georgian Dream in Bolnisi in 2012 and then became the deputy head of this municipality’s administration. Davit Chartolani co-owns one more company with the same name together with Otar Chartolani, a donor of the Georgian Dream party and a business partner of a member of the parliamentary majority, Viktor Japaridze.

4. The former Deputy Head of the Municipal Administration of Mestia, Aleksandre Khergiani, obtained procurement contracts worth GEL 243,034 from the local government in the years 2014-2022.

At the same time, Aleksandre Khergiani is a business partner of a son of the Deputy Mayor of Mestia, Neli Naveriani, in Hatsvali 2015 LLC. Neli Naveriani is the spouse of a cousin of a member of the parliamentary majority, Viktor Japaridze.

5. A company associated with the chairperson of commission at the Mestia City Council, Bachuki Nakani – Builder 21 LLC – received GEL 1,212,404 from local procurements, including GEL 578,898 – after the election of Bachuki Nakani to the office.
6. Family members of Mariam Nakani, the Head of the Procurement Service of the Mestia City Hall, obtained procurement contracts worth GEL 405,187 in the years 2013-2022.
7. The company of Demur Gadelia, the uncle of the Mayor of Senaki, Vakhtang Gadelia –JSC Arkeopolisi – obtained  procurement contracts worth GEL 10,349,587 from the Senaki City Hall after Vakhtang Gadelia was elected as the mayor, while Indiko LLC, the company of the Mayor’s cousin, Ioseb Gadelia, obtained procurement contracts with a value of GEL 935,160.

In these tenders, Arkeopolisi only had three competitors, including, on two occasions, Indiko LLC of Ioseb Gadelia, the cousin of the Mayor of Senaki. Vakhtang Gadelia previously also worked in JSC Arkeopolisi – in the years 2009-2013, he was a member of the Supervisory Board of this company. We also wrote about the participation of JSC Arkeopolisi in the tenders of the Senaki City Hall in 2022, although the Anti-Corruption Agency of the State Security Service failed/was unable to discover possible signs of corruption. 

8. The company of Dato Adamia, a member of the Senaki City Council, received GEL 6,779,143 in the years 2011-2021. After June 2021, the company changed its name to Menati LLC and received procurement contracts worth GEL 2,458,106. The value of procurements has already exceeded GEL 9,237,249. 

The main contracting authorities of the company are the Senaki City Hall, municipal N(N)LEs, and public schools of Senaki. Today Dato Adamia is no longer a member of the Senaki City Council, although he is presumably concealing both his ties with the company and his involvement in procurements. 

9. The brother of Jumber Izoria, the Deputy Chairperson of the Chkhorotsku City Council and a former member of the Parliament of Georgia from the Georgian Dream, has obtained procurement contracts worth GEL 145,966 since 2018, while his friend, Tsabu Gogua, won a municipal procurement contract for vehicle repair and spare parts with a value of GEL 289,583. 

The technical inspection of vehicles in Chkhorotsku is carried out by the Togeni company, which is owned by the family of Jumber Izoria.

10. A company associated with the former Chairperson of the Tsalenjikha City Council, Temur Gvinjilia – Tsalenjikhis Sagzao Sammartvelo LLC – obtained procurements worth GEL 5,106,732 while he was holding the office. 
11. Companies associated with Mamuka Tsotseria, the Mayor of Zugdidi, and Zaza Antia, a classmate and friend of the Deputy State Representative to the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti Region, Davit Kukhaleishvili – Road Plus LLC and Building Group 17 LLC – win  local procurements. The companies have won tenders worth GEL 28,938,985 in total since 2018. From this amount, procurements of GEL 12,129,286 were made by the Zugdidi City Hall. 
12. The company of Lasha Jaiani, the former Head of the Supervision Service of the Zugdidi City Hall – Evromsheni 999 LLC – received GEL 1,628,151 from procurements in the years 2016-2018. The main contracting authority of the company was the Zugdidi City Hall; during this period, Lasha Jaiani was also a member of the tendering commission.
13. The companies of the former Director of the Municipal Transport of Zugdidi, Badri Nemsadze, and his spouse, obtained procurement contracts worth GEL 692,223 in the years 2011-2018.                                                                          
14. The company of Ramaz Gujabidze, a business partner and friend of the former Mayor of Poti, Gocha Kurdgelia – Khalibi LLC – has obtained simplified public procurement contracts worth GEL 520,809 since 2012.
15. Companies of family members of Nestan Karchava, the mayor’s representative to the village of Khabume of the Chkhorotsku Municipality, who have close relations with the Mayor of Chkhorotsku, Dato Gogua, have obtained procurement contracts worth GEL 4,301,516 since 2012. At the same time, Jambul and Salome Papava, whose company has obtained procurement contracts worth GEL 1,080,842 during the same period, are also close to Davit Gogua and the ruling party. 

Dato Gogua has been the Mayor of Chkhorotsku since December 2012 (until 2017 – the Head of Municipal Administration). Salome Papava is an employee of the Chkhorotsku City Hall, while his father Jambul Papava is a coordinator for the Georgian Dream party.

16. The company of the chairperson of commission at the Khobi City Council, Dodo Gabunia, who is the mother of Irakli (Dachi) Beraia, a member of the Parliament of Georgia from the Georgian Dream, has received GEL 61,946 from simplified procurements since 2012.