"Transparency International Georgia": Donor of 253,000 GEL to "Georgian Dream" uses Batumi municipal property without permission
According to "Transparency International - Georgia", the donor of "Georgian Dream" Alexander Baghaturia is using the municipal property of Batumi without permission.
More specifically, according to the information of the organization, in 2021, Batumi City Hall handed over a plot of land free of charge to "Akhali Bulvari" LLC owned by Baghaturia, where the said company has been carrying out commercial activities since 2023.
On September 1, 2021, Batumi City Hall handed over an 8,339 sq. m plot of land and an autodrome located on it to "Akhali Boulevari" LLC, free of charge, for a period of 2 years. The company organized a karting club in this area and continues its commercial activities illegally from September 1, 2023 until now. Alexander Baghaturia, the founder and 100% shareholder of "Akhali Boulevari" LLC, is a political donor - from 2016 to the present, he donated 253,000 GEL to "Georgian Dream" and the presidential candidate supported by it (including 15,000 GEL - on August 6 of this year).
The term of using the land for the company expired on September 1, 2023, although the karting club is still working as usual. Moreover, until March 25, 2024, LLC "Akhali Bulvari" was registered as a usufruct beneficiary in the National Public Registry Agency, and the Batumi Municipality City Hall started organizational and legal procedures to cancel this record only after our appeal.
Through public sources, we could not find documentation confirming the right to use this plot of land and the autodrome located on it after September 1, 2023. On February 23, 2024, we applied to the Batumi Municipality City Hall and asked them to provide public information and documents related to the right of use. On March 11, 2024, the City Hall of Batumi Municipality informed us that the term of the right to use this plot of land expired on September 1, 2023, and as of March 11 of this year, it has not been used. This response confirmed our assumption that the political donor's company is illegally using municipal property.
"Transparency International - Georgia" calls on the anti-corruption agency of the State Security Service, the City Council of the Batumi Municipality and the internal audit service of the Batumi City Hall to take the measures provided for by the current legislation of Georgia," says the information released by "Transparency International - Georgia".
