Transparency International Georgia released a statement, according to which companies of brothers of public officials win tenders in Samtskhe-Javakheti.

“Since the election of the Mayor of Akhaltsikhe, his brother and sister-in-law have been winning tenders in the Akhaltsikhe Municipality, while after the election of the Chairperson of the City Council of Aspindza, his brother started winning tenders in the Aspindza Municipality. In the years 2014-2020, the brother and sister-in-law of the Mayor of Akhaltsikhe received GEL 565,710 from the budget of Akhaltsikhe. During the same period, the brother of the Chairperson of the City Council of Aspindza received GEL 740,065 from the budget of Aspindza.

Zaza Melikidze was elected from the Georgian Dream as the Head of the Municipal Administration of the Akhaltsikhe Municipality in July 2014 and as the Mayor of Akhaltsikhe in October 2017. From August 2014 through November 2017, Nukia LLC, a construction company of his brother, Tamaz Melikidze, took part in 25 tenders announced by the Akhaltsikhe Municipality and won 9 of them, for which the company received a total of GEL 246,920. Before Z. Melikidze won the elections, Nukia had taken part in 4 tenders of the Akhaltsikhe Municipality and only won 1 of them, receiving GEL 3,700.

As the chairperson of the tendering commission, Z. Melikidze was usually involved in the work of this commission which considered the offers of the company of his brother, T. Melikidze, as one of the bidder. Among other issues, he also considered the issue of disqualification of his brother’s competitors. The Head of the Municipal Administration only indicated at the stage of conclusion of contracts that he had a conflict of interest with Nukia LLC, while the contracts were concluded by his first deputy, Guram Melikidze.

In addition to the Akhaltsikhe Municipality, the main procurers of Nukia are the Aspindza City Hall and the public schools of Samtskhe-Javakheti. Since 2011, the company has won 37 tenders altogether, receiving GEL 1,045,922 in total.

TI Georgia calls upon the Anti-Corruption Agency of the State Security Service and the Office of the Prosecutor General to study each of the procurements won by JSC 21st Century, Nukia LLC, and Nana Maisuradze and to establish whether these procurements were tailored to their interests and whether they involved signs of corruption”, - reads the statement.