According to reports in the media today, Tbilisi City Hall is planning to liquidate the Tbilisi Development Fund. Transparency International Georgia, along with various other NGOs, often highlights the non-transparent activities surrounding various funds created by the Georgian Government, including the Tbilisi Development Fund. Questions arose not only about its plans but also in connection with the publicity and openness of its finances. Usually, Tbilisi City Hall and the Fund’s administration refrained from answering these questions, which gave further reason for suspicion. Transparency of this information was of great importance, as the Fund managed most of the reconstruction and rehabilitation works in the city, and was also the founder of the Old Tbilisi Rehabilitation Fund, which was liquidated a while ago and its assets transferred to the Tbilisi Development Fund.

We call upon the City Hall to conduct this liquidation in a transparent manner. First of all, the City Hall should inform the public about the reasons for this liquidation. We believe that the public should also be made aware of how the money transferred from the City Hall budget to the fund was spent, and which projects were implemented with that money. It is important to know which property was owned by the fund during the liquidation period, and how that property will be disposed of afterwards. As the fund still has certain liabilities (specifically, housing liabilities) towards some citizens, and as the building and refurbishment of certain objects is still in progress, it is important that the City Hall informs those citizens about its plans and obligations as soon as possible.