On July 23, 2016, the Prime Minister of Georgia, Giorgi Kvirikashvili, presented [1] Georgian Dream’s majoritarian candidates for the Parliament of Georgia in Samegrelo.

TI Georgia presents information about the candidates which is based on the Public Registry data and on an analysis of asset declarations filled out by some of them.  

Zugdidi:

Merab Kvaraia

Education

The majoritarian candidate for the city of Zugdidi is Merab Kvaraia who has held the position of the Chairperson of the City Council of Zugdidi since 2014. Merab Kvaraia is a lawyer by profession; in 1989-1994 he studied at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, and in 1995-96 – at the Agricultural University of Georgia.

Work experience

In 1995-98, Merab Kvaraia worked at the Samegrelo-Upper Svaneti Bureau of the Chamber of Control; in 1998-2001, he was the Chairman of the Revision Commission of the Municipal Council of Zugdidi; in 2001-2002, he worked as a lecturer at the Zugdidi Branch of Tbilisi State University; till 2003, he was a member of the People’s Party; he was a member of the aborted parliament of the convocation of 2003 from the Revival political movement; in 2002-2005, he served as the Chairman of the Legal Committee of the City Council of Zugdidi; and in 2004-2005, he worked as the Deputy Head of the Tbilisi Division of the Department of Local Budgets at the Chamber of Control of Georgia.

In 2012, Merab Kvaraia became a member of the special commission on political prisoners of the Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee at the Parliament of Georgia. From 2013, he acted as the Deputy Head of the Municipal Administration of Zugdidi.              

Assets

According to the asset declaration filled out in September 2015, he and his family members own three houses in the Zugdidi Municipality, one house in Gali, three apartments in the city of Tbilisi, a non-residential space in Zugdidi, and several land parcels in the Zugdidi Municipality and Gali. See detailed information at this link [2].

Criminal record

On August 26, 2005, Merab Kvaraia was detained on the charges of embezzlement of large amounts of funds by exceeding official duties in 2001 when he worked in the position of the Deputy Head of the Taxation Service of Zugdidi. He was sentenced to imprisonment for six years and six months. After serving his sentence, Mr. Kvaraia left the penitentiary on February 24, 2012. The conviction has been removed from the majoritarian candidate’s record.     

Zugdidi:

Edisher Toloraia

Education

The majoritarian candidate for Zugdidi is the current Head of the Municipal Administration of Zugdidi, Edisher Toloraia. He is a lawyer and has graduated from the Independent University of Zugdidi.      

Work experience

In the years 2002-2006, Edisher Toloraia worked in various positions at the Municipal Administration of Zugdidi. In 2007, he was the Head of the Zugdidi District Division of the Agency for Pension Subsidies. In 2011-12, he served as the chief specialist at the Regional Administration of Samegrelo-Upper Svaneti. After the 2012 parliamentary elections, he became the acting Head of the Municipal Administration of Zugdidi, and in 2014 he was elected the Head of the Municipal Administration of Zugdidi. He is also the Chairperson of the Zugdidi District Organization of the political association Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia.        

Assets

According to the asset declaration [3] filled out by Edisher Toloraia in March 2016, he and his family members own apartments in Tbilisi and Moscow, as well as a residential house and several land parcels in the village of Ingiri, Zugdidi Municipality.            

Edisher Toloraia did not indicate in the declaration that his family members own the following stakes in businesses:

• His spouse, Maka Gurtskaia, has owned a 100% stake in Tbili Kera LLC [4] since 2011;
• His sister, Ekaterine Toloraia, is the owner of a 50% stake in Orte LLC [5].      

Filling out an asset declaration incompletely, including failure to completely declare the property or economic interests of oneself and one’s family members, is a violation of the requirements of the Law of Georgia on Conflict of Interest and Corruption in Public Service. It should be noted that Edisher Toloraia had also filled out [6] his asset declaration incompletely in 2014. 

Martvili and Abasha:

Otar Danelia

Education

The majoritarian candidate for Martvili and Abasha is the Minister of Agriculture, Otar Danelia. Otar Danelia is a specialist of international relations and diplomacy. In 1995-96 he studied in the U.S., in 1996-2000 – at the Diplomatic Academy of Georgia, and in 1997-2002 – at the Law Faculty of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University.

Work experience

In 2001-2004, Otar Danelia was an assistant to the UN Observer Mission in Georgia; in 2004-2007, he served as the Regional Representative of the United Nations Operations in Côte d'Ivoire; in 2008-2011, he was a project manager and later the Head of the Projects and Business Analysis Department of Bank Republic – Societe Generale Group; in 2011-2013, he was a member of the Board of Directors and Head of the Monitoring and Standardization Department of Silknet; in 2013-2014, he served as the Deputy Head of the Financial and Logistics Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs; and since 2014, he has held the position of the Minister of Agriculture.   

Assets

According to the asset declaration [7] filled out by Otar Danelia in June 2016, he owns an apartment, a residential house, a house under construction, a non-residential space, a car, and two land parcels in Tbilisi and in the village of Shindisi. According to the declaration, he is also a partner of Smart House LLC (identification code – 406038112), Mega Construction LLC (identification code – 406074117), and Sky Motors LLC (identification code – 401950563).    

Tsalenjikha and Chkhorotsku:

Goga Gulordava

Education

The majoritarian candidate for Tsalenjikha and Chkhorotsku is the current Head of the Municipal Administration of Tsalenjikha, Goga Gulordava. He is a lawyer by profession. He studied at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University.

Work experience

In 2000-2007, Goga Gulordava worked in various positions at the Chamber of Control of Georgia; in 2009-2012, he was the Director of the Forestry Consultation Center of Georgia LLC; in 2008-2011, he served as a lawyer at the Tbilisi Legal Center (TLC); in 2011, he was also a lawyer of Media Alliance LLC; and from 2011, he held the position of Director of Oxford Medical Georgia LLC.                                  

Assets

According to the asset declaration [8] filled out in February 2016, Goga Gulordava owns an apartment and a non-residential space in Tbilisi. He is also a partner of Dalmax Group LLC (identification code – 205286992), though, according to the Public Registry data, the current owner of a 100% stake in Dalmax Group LLC is Paata Lagvilava.

Criminal record

In 2007, Mr. Gulordava was detained on the charges of exceeding official powers and released several months later. Currently, the conviction has been removed from his record. 

Khobi:

Goderdzi Bukia

Education

Georgian Dream presented Goderdzi Bukia as the majoritarian candidate for Khobi. He graduated from the Architecture Faculty of the Georgian Polytechnic Institute in 1975.

Work experience

In 1975-78, Goderdzi Bukia was the Secretary of the Committee of the Young Communist League at the Tbilisi Academy of Arts; in 1978-83, he served as the First Secretary of the District Committee of the Young Communist League of the Tbilisi City Committee; and in 1983-90, he was the Sector Manager of the Saburtalo District Committee of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. In 1990-1995, he lived in Moscow where he was engaged in private entrepreneurial activity. In March 1995, he was appointed as the Ambassador of Georgia to the Russian Federation; in the same year, he became a member of the Parliament of Georgia. Mr. Bukia was a member of the parliaments of the convocations of 2004 and 2008. In 2012, he ran for the office of majoritarian MP from citizens’ political association United National Movement in the Khobi Election District, although soon after the electoral victory of the Georgian Dream coalition, he left the UNM and became a member of the Non-Party, Independent Majoritarians faction.       

Assets

According to unconfirmed reports, Goderdzi Bukia is an owner of a multi-million lari [9] property, though the asset declaration [10] he filled out in May 2016 says that his spouse, Manana Kvirikashvili, only owns a land parcel in Tsavkisi and a car. It seems that Goderdzi Bukia also has certain links to the developments [11] that surrounded the Batumi Boulevard, as his daughter, Natia Bukia, is the owner of an 8.3% stake in Dreamland Oasis LLC [12] which provided LEPL Batumi Boulevard with a concept of the boulevard’s development through direct acquisition.

Goderdzi Bukia organizes [13] a periodic international musical festival [14] “Song about Samegrelo” in Khobi.  

Senaki:

Irakli Beraia

Education

Georgian Dream presented Irakli Beraia as the majoritarian candidate for Senaki. He holds an MA in diplomacy which he obtained from the University of Westminster in London.

Work experience

Currently, Irakli Beraia is the Head of the Information and Analytical Department of the State Security Service; at the same time, he is the head of the task force of the Georgian side at meetings held in the framework of the mechanism for preventing and responding to incidents in Gali and Ergneti.

Poti:

Irakli Khakhubia

Assets

Georgian Dream presented businessman Irakli Khakhubia as the majoritarian candidate for Poti.

Irakli Khakhubia owns stakes in the following limited liability companies:

• Aisbergi 2 LLC – owner [15] of a 20% stake;
• Geo Capital Management – owner [16] of an 18% stake;
• Gcm Service LLC – owner [17] of an 18% stake;
• betwin LLC – owner [18] of a 30% stake;
• Geonatsi LLC – owner [19] of a 25% stake. 

According to the Public Registry data, he owns an apartment [20] in Tbilisi.

Irakli Khakhubia donated [21] GEL 10,000 to the United National Movement on August 27, 2012.