Transparency International Georgia has evaluated the performance of the City Council of the Zugdidi Municipality (hereinafter the City Council of Zugdidi) in 2022. The report is based on the information requested from the City Council and that posted on the City Council’s official website, as well as on the observations of our organization. The study period covers the year 2022. Transparency International Georgia has evaluated the performance of the City Council of Zugdidi twice, the first report [1] covered the study period between November 2017 and 2019, and the second report [2] covered the year 2020.

Main Findings

• During the reporting period, there was a partial improvement in the exercise of oversight function by the Zugdidi City Council over the activities of the Zugdidi City Hall and legal entities;
• The City Council has not revealed any instances of conflict of interest or misconduct in the operations of the City Hall, which includes the state procurement process;
• Zugdidi City Council conducted a total of 28 sessions, out of which 19 were extraordinary;
• Zugdidi City Council passed a total of 45 resolutions, with 30 of them being authored or initiated by Zugdidi City Hall, and the remaining 15 resolutions originating from the City Council itself;
• Among the 45 officials serving in the Zugdidi Municipality City Council, only one individual, Irakli Gogokhia, submitted a declaration with violations;
• In contrast to the previous convocation of the City Council, this time all factions in the Council had initiatives. Collectively, the factions presented a total of 59 initiatives in 2022;
• The total expenditure for the operations of the factions reached 633,443 GEL. Out of this amount, 599,340 GEL was allocated towards salaries, representing an increase of 350,341 GEL compared to the corresponding figure in 2020;
• The number of female members of the City Council has increased from 7 to 14, which is 31.1 percent of the total number of members, compared to the previous convocation;
• Out of the 14 women members of the City Council, 6 hold positions. Among them, three serve as chairpersons of commissions, one as the chairperson of a faction, and two as deputy chairpersons of a faction;
• Similar to the previous convocation, the Gender Equality Council did not conduct analyses of legal acts or provide expertise on draft legislative acts in 2022. No system has been established to monitor and evaluate the measures implemented to promote gender equality;
• The Gender Equality Council presented recommendations on the 2023 budget project, as well as condemned the violation of ethical norms towards women by the member of the City Council;
• During the reporting period, the members of the City Council were absent from the council sessions 337 times, including 320 times - without a valid reason;
• Among the members of the City Council, Mamuka Kurashvili, a member of the faction “Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia” had the highest number of absences without a valid reason, missing a total of 22 sessions. Additionally, Davit Vekua, Deputy Chairperson of the “United National Movement” faction had 17 absences, while Paata Adamia, a member of the faction, had 16 absences, ranking them among the leaders in terms of session absences;
• In 2022, there were 297 instances of absences from the City Council Commission sessions identified, including 253- absences without a valid reason;
• Joni Jikia, Deputy Chairman of the "Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia" faction, holds the highest number of missed commission sessions among the city council members without a valid reason, totaling 26. Tazo Patsatsia, deputy chairman of the same faction, has recorded 21 absences without a valid reason from the commission sessions. Additionally, Davit Vekua, deputy chairman of the “United National Movement” faction has accumulated 18 absences, placing them among the leaders in terms of absences without valid reason from the commission sessions;
• During the reporting period, among the 45 members of the Zugdidi City Council, 10 members refrained from exercising their right to speak, for comparison, the previous convocation of the City Council had 25 silent members in 2020. 32 members did not present their reports during the council sessions;
• A total of 1,547,553 GEL was spent on the activities of the Zugdidi City Council in 2022. Out of this amount, 1,302,230 GEL was allocated for salaries, 147,676 GEL was dedicated to reimbursing expenses incurred by City Council members, 91,703 GEL was spent on fuel expenses, 4,757 GEL was used for telephone communication, and 1,187 GEL was spent on business trips;
• Unlike the previous convocation of the City Council, the current City Council of Zugdidi does not utilize cars owned by the municipality;
• The fuel limit for the chairman of the City Council has been reduced from 700 to 400 liters, while for the deputies, it has been decreased from 400 to 350 liters.
• In 2022, the City Council spent a total of 27.6 tons (27,675 liters) of fuel, for comparison: the similar rate in 2020 was 42.2 tons (42,257 liters);
• The fuel consumption decreased in quantity, but in comparison to 2020, the cost of fuel increased from 74,112 GEL to 91,703 GEL in 2022;
• Among the members of the City Council, Malkhaz Toria, the first deputy chairman of the City Council, consumed the highest amount of fuel, totaling 3,374 liters, which amounted to a cost of 11,150 GEL;
• Among the officials of the factions, Irakli Gogokhia, the chairman of the "Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia" faction, consumed the highest amount of fuel, using a total of 1,795 liters, with a value of 5,827 GEL;
• The members of the "United National Movement" faction declined the reimbursement for telephone communication expenses starting from the first City Council meeting. As per the decision made in June 2022, this reimbursement was subsequently revoked for all the members.