Batumi City Mayor Archil Chikovani’s Facebook page materials are advertised by Gogi Putkaradze, the Head of the International Relations and Protocol Department of the Government of Adjara. Putkaradze also advertises public page posts of the Chairman of the Adjara Government Tornike Rijvadze.

In Transparency International Georgia’s assessment, the involvement of the Adjara Government Administration’s representative in self-governance is an issue. The financing mechanism and sources for such activity are not transparent. In their official letters, the Administration of the Government of Adjara and the Batumi City Hall state that they did not spend money on the promotion of public officials on social media. Consequently, it raises questions regarding the original source of funds. 

Questions Regarding the Origin of the Advertisement Expenditure

Archil Chikovani has been serving as Mayor of Batumi since July 16, 2020. The official Facebook page of Acting Mayor Archil Chikovani was quickly created on July 17, 2020. According to Meta’s database, various information from Chikovani’s page was advertised 180 times, in each case spending less than 3,200 USD. Currently, it is not publicly available on Meta what amount was spent on Archil Chikovani’s Facebook posts advertisement.

Information on the official Facebook page of Archil Chikovani:

Facebook has launched a Political Ad library in Georgia since 2020. According to Facebook rules, a person who wants to run ads about politics, elections, social issues etc. is required to authorize; for political ads contact information of an advertiser should also be disclosed.

Prior to 2021 local self-government elections, the Georgian Dream sponsored the Facebook page of Archil Chikovani. During the pre-election period, the party spent around 2,200 USD for ads: 

Later, after winning elections in the second round, the Head of International Relations and Protocol Department of the Administration of the Government of Adjara, Gogi Putkaradze was indicated as an advertiser for Chikovani’s page. 

Outside the election period, more than 1,000 USD was spent on the advertising page of the Batumi Mayor.

According to the Facebook’s public information, in case of Archil Chikovani’s page, the representative of the Government Administration, Gogi Putkaradze uses the official e-mail address of the Adjara Government, and he also indicates www.adjara.gov.ge as a work webpage.

Gogi Putkaradze is also involved in advertising of the official page of the Chairman of the Government of Adjara Tornike Rijvadze. 

Tornike Rijvadze’s official page materials were advertised 190 times, spending almost 2,600 USD.

In total, 5,765 USD were spent on running ads on the official pages of Archil Chikovani and Tornike Rijvadze. According to the Political Ad library 2,177 USD were paid by the Georgian Dream party, but the source of the remaining amount is unknown.

What is the response from the Batumi City Hall and the Administration of the Government of Adjara?

Transparency International Georgia requested public information from the Administration of the Government and the Batumi City Hall, asking about the expenses spent on advertising official pages of the institutions in social media.

In their official letters, the Administration of the Government and the City Hall stated they did not spend money for this purpose at all. 

Conclusion, Questions and Recommendations

The advertisement of the information posted on the official page of high-ranking officials – Tornike Rijvadze and Archil Chikovani is not transparent and raises questions: What is the rationale behind the fact that in order to increase outreach of the information posted on their pages the money is spent allegedly by the representative of the Government Administration and not from the budget of the respective institution. The origin of the funds is also unknown.

Transparency International Georgia indicates that the representative of the Government of Adjara intervenes in the work of the Batumi Mayor. This illustrates malpractice between the Municipality and the Government of Adjara, violates the requirements of the Organic Law of Georgia Local Self-Government Code and ignores the principles of the self-government. The proper communication of the Mayor, his deputies and other City Hall services with the public, including the social network, should be managed by the public relations unit.

Transparency International Georgia calls on the Mayor of Batumi, the Batumi City Hall, and the Office of the Government of Adjara to respond to the identified issues in a timely and comprehensive manner. The Batumi City Assembly should discuss this matter and exercise its power under the law to determine the source of funding for the Facebook page of the Batumi Mayor and also, uphold the principles of self-government.