Scandal in Adjara -seven detained persons involved in the corruption scandal in Adjara will be officially charged today. The investigation accuses the former mayor of Batumi Giorgi Ermakov, vice mayor of Batumi, two deputy ministers of finance and education and 3 senior officials of the City Hall of rigging the procurement tender for social housing in favor of a single company – “Convert Georgia” – which did not meet the legal and financial requirements.
The detainees do not recognize the accusation.
"He is illegally detained, he has not committed any crime. In this regard, we will submit relevant evidence to the relevant authorities. We do not know the case materials, we will get the case materials and subsequently when we find out all the evidence we can give the answer, "said Jemal Kiknadze, lawyer of the former mayor of Batumi Giorgi Ermakov.
Archil Vanadze and Bagrat Khalvashi"s lawyer says that the tender conditions have not been violated. According to Human Rights Defender, detainees had no reason to doubt the company during the tender.
"There were no tender conditions for any particular company, it just turned out to be the only company that participated in the tender was of Azerbaijani origin, "said Ramin Papidze, lawyer of Archil Vanadze and Bagrat Khalvashi.