In October 2023, Ilia Shamugia, the Deputy Head of the Government Administration, bought a 195.7-square-meter apartment in the Tbilisi Gardens complex for about twice less than the market price. According to the company’s official website, the cost of a similar apartment in the complex is about GEL 1.3 million (USD 512,000), while Ilia Shamugia bought the apartment for USD 283,000. In addition, he declared even less – USD 226,400 in his asset declaration.

Ilia Shamugia provided incomplete and inaccurate information in his asset declaration filed on April 12, 2024.

Violation I: Ilia Shamugia declared the price of the 195.7 sq/m apartment he purchased in the Tbilisi Gardens complex to be USD 226,400, while according to the purchase agreement, he paid USD 283,000.

Violation II: The asset declaration does not fully disclose the source of the funds used to purchase the property. Specifically, the asset declaration does not disclose the additional USD 56,600 that he paid for the purchase of the apartment, as stated in the contract. Ilia Shamugia’s reported income would not have been sufficient to cover this expense.

Violation III: Ilia Shamugia did not fully disclose the bank accounts in his name, namely, he did not disclose the foreign currency accounts at TBC Bank. According to the declared information, he has a total of GEL 20 in his bank accounts.

On April 13, 2024, TV Pirveli’s program “Nodar Meladze’s Saturday” aired an investigative story on Ilia Shamugia and his family’s Russian connections. Shamugia’s family members have dual Russian-Georgian citizenship and were simultaneously involved in importing oil from Russia. It turns out that Ilia Shamugia was a football player in Russia until February 2017. Only in February 2017, Ilia Shamugia was registered in the unified voter list of the Central Election Commission of Georgia and began to work in the Parliament of Georgia.

Although required by law, there is no information about Shamugia’s biographical data (at least education and work experience) on the Administration of the Government of Georgia website.

We call on:

➢ The Anti-Corruption Bureau to scrutinize Ilia Shamugia’s asset declaration and act in accordance with the law.

➢ The Government Administration to publish the legally required information about Ilia Shamugia’s education and work experience.