Levan Kimadze, brother of Adigeni Mayor Gocha Kimadze, is one of the five businessmen who established the N(N)LP Adigeni Development Foundation in partnership with Adigeni City Hall. During his brother’s term as mayor, Levan Kimadze received GEL 251,709 from the Adigeni municipal N(N)LPs. From 2013 to 2023, he received a total of GEL 1,287,209 through procurement contracts. Additionally, Jemal Kimadze, the other brother of Adigeni Mayor Gocha Kimadze, has been serving as the director of the N(N)LP Adigeni Improvement and Cleaning Service for four years. This situation raises concerns about potential conflicts of interest and violates the Law [1] of Georgia on the Fight against Corruption, posing a risk of corruption.
On January 20, 2015, Adigeni City Hall established [2] the N(N)LP Adigeni Development Foundation in partnership with five individuals. The foundation was intended to work on the development of the municipality and develop relevant strategies, according [3] to internal regulations. However, the N(N)LP did not contribute to the development of the Adigeni municipality, because the foundation did not function [4] actually. Instead, three of the five founding members of the foundation, namely Levan Kimadze, Pavle Batmanashvili and Zurab Zedginidze received state procurement contracts totaling GEL 2,017,651 between 2013 and 2024. Of this amount, GEL 1,600,598 (79.3%) was received from Adigeni City Hall and its affiliated N(N)LPs. The N(N)LP founders donated a total of GEL 75,000 to Georgian Dream in 2016-2021. It should be noted that one of the founders has been convicted of corruption.
Levan Kimadze’s “Tornike [5]” LLC received GEL 1,287,209 through 1,282 state procurement contracts for the purchase of food, construction and other materials between 2013 and 2023. Of this amount, GEL 1,153,891 (89.6%) was transferred after January 2015, when he established the N(N)LP in partnership with Adigeni City Hall. It is noteworthy that Levan Kimadze’s company received GEL 836,691 (65%) through 1,241 direct procurements. Adigeni City Hall and the municipal N(N)LPs were the main buyers who concluded contracts with Levan Kimadze’s company worth a total of GEL 933,397 (72.5%).
Levan Kimadze was arrested on charges of fraud for fraudulently appropriating GEL 2,200 from a tender [6] won by disqualifying his competitor in March 2016. He sold low-quality pipes to the municipality at the price of high-quality pipes for laying the drinking water network in the villages. A plea agreement was reached [7] in the case. However, the Adigeni municipal N(N)LPs continue to sign direct procurement contracts with him.
Furthermore, since the spring of 2021, one of Kimadze’s brothers, Jemal, has been appointed [8] as the director of the N(N)LP Adigeni Improvement and Cleaning Service, while the other brother, Gocha, has been the Mayor of Adigeni since October of the same year. As a result, state procurements made after this period raise concerns about the conflict of interest among related individuals[1]. In 2021-2023, Levan Kimadze’s “Tornike” LLC received GEL 251,709 from Adigeni municipal N(N)LPs through 282 direct procurement contracts. Additionally, in August 2021, Levan Kimadze donated GEL 5,000 [9] to the ruling party.
In 2013-2024, four companies owned by Pavle Batmanashvili were awarded 138 state procurement contracts totaling GEL 575,830 for the purchase of fuel, construction works, and various materials. Of this amount, GEL 512,805 (89%) was transferred to Batmanashvili’s companies from Adigeni City Hall and its legal entities. In 2016 [10] and 2021 [11], Batmanashvili donated GEL 70,000 to Georgian Dream.
In 2014-2020, Zurab Zedginidze, director of the N(N)LP Adigeni Development Foundation, received GEL 154,612 through 17 state procurement contracts for construction works and the purchase of pharmaceutical products. Most of these contracts totaling GEL 154,396 (99.8%) were awarded by Adigeni City Hall.
Transparency International Georgia calls on the Anti-Corruption Agency of the State Security Service and the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia to investigate the state procurement contracts awarded by Adigeni City Hall and its legal entities to the companies owned by Levan Kimadze, Pavle Batmanashvili and Zurab Zedginidze, and to determine whether these contracts contain any signs of corruption.
[1] The state audit of the Akhaltsikhe Municipality [12] for 2018-2019 revealed a conflict of interest in the purchases made by the municipality’s legal entities with the company of Akhaltsikhe Mayor. The audit concluded that the director of N(N)LP is appointed by the mayor, and if the director signs a procurement contract with a person or company related to the mayor, this proves their interdependence, which leads to a conflict of interest.
Links
[1] https://www.matsne.gov.ge/en/document/view/33550?publication=83
[2] https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o_kI_ZAuR4YXq7nrEal1YUl-usCHtL_R/view?usp=sharing
[3] https://drive.google.com/file/d/1upFZnQMYm8FGkKd5IkxjJoLM39nQru14/view?usp=sharing
[4] http://www.br.geostat.ge/register_geo/index.php?action=History&lang=ka&Stat_ID=22911771
[5] https://bs.napr.gov.ge/GetBlob?pid=400&bid=boVlyOwlsX3qmYsntmLmFN9uUucpIliFsNiEmdf3Yc2VNzG6UX%5Dd8PL7iAmrVc2M
[6] https://tenders.procurement.gov.ge/public/?go=183873&lang=ge
[7] https://sknews.ge/ka/news/15333
[8] https://transparency.ge/en/post/nepotism-and-signs-alleged-corruption-adigeni-city-hall
[9] https://www.transparency.ge/politicaldonations/en/donations/1492
[10] https://www.transparency.ge/politicaldonations/en/donations/6429
[11] https://www.transparency.ge/politicaldonations/en/donations/1495
[12] https://sao.ge/Uploads/2021/3/%E1%83%90%E1%83%AE%E1%83%90%E1%83%9A%E1%83%AA%E1%83%98%E1%83%AE%E1%83%98%E1%83%A1%20%E1%83%9B%E1%83%A3%E1%83%9C%E1%83%98%E1%83%AA%E1%83%98%E1%83%9E%E1%83%90%E1%83%9A%E1%83%98%E1%83%A2%E1%83%94%E1%83%A2%E1%83%98%E1%83%A1%202018-2019%20%E1%83%AC%E1%83%9A%E1%83%94%E1%83%91%E1%83%98%E1%83%A1%20%E1%83%A1%E1%83%90%E1%83%A5%E1%83%9B%E1%83%98%E1%83%90%E1%83%9C%E1%83%9D%E1%83%91%E1%83%98%E1%83%A1%20%E1%83%A8%E1%83%94%E1%83%A1%E1%83%90%E1%83%91%E1%83%90%E1%83%9B%E1%83%98%E1%83%A1%E1%83%9D%E1%83%91%E1%83%98%E1%83%A1%20%E1%83%90%E1%83%A3%E1%83%93....pdf
[13] https://transparency.ge/sites/default/files/vin_mdidrdeba_shens_xarjze_qimadzeebi.png
[14] https://transparency.ge/sites/default/files/signal-2024-09-10-132155_002.jpeg
[15] https://transparency.ge/en/tags/%E1%83%95%E1%83%98%E1%83%9C-%E1%83%9B%E1%83%93%E1%83%98%E1%83%93%E1%83%A0%E1%83%93%E1%83%94%E1%83%91%E1%83%90-%E1%83%A8%E1%83%94%E1%83%9C%E1%83%A1-%E1%83%AE%E1%83%90%E1%83%A0%E1%83%AF%E1%83%96%E1%83%94
