Prepared by Messenger Staff
Russian Companies Win Georgian State Contracts Despite War
A probe by iFact, a Georgian investigative outlet, shows Russian firms continue to secure state tenders in Georgia after Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Of more than 5,000 Russian businesses registered in Georgia over the past decade, 43 remain active in government procurement. Since 2022 they have won 379 contracts worth GEL 16 million, including GEL 6 million for firms set up after the war began.
Education bodies signed 155 of these contracts, followed by city halls and municipalities with 83, Abkhazia's government with 21, ministries with 23, and other state agencies with 97.
"Since the start of the war in Ukraine, 32 deals worth more than half a million lari have been awarded by the National Security Council, the Government of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia, Ministries of Internal Affairs, Justice and Foreign Affairs to companies owned by Russian citizens," iFact said.
In 2022 alone, 1,026 Russian firms were registered in Georgia, 973 of them after the invasion.
Prison Service Chief Resigns Amid Probe Into Beating of Former Ivanishvili Aide
Georgia's Special Penitentiary Service chief, Bezhan Obgaidze, resigned on August 22 as authorities investigate the beating of Giorgi Bachiashvili, a former aide to Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili who is serving a sentence for cryptocurrency embezzlement. Obgaidze had held the post for only two months.
The agency said Obgaidze stepped down "with a personal statement." His resignation follows the departures of Davit Gogoberishvili, head of Tbilisi's No. 8 penitentiary where Bachiashvili was assaulted, and G. Kemoklidze, deputy director of the agency's penitentiary department.
"Within the framework of the ongoing disciplinary proceedings at the Special Penitentiary Service, after studying the revealed circumstances, and considering also that, during the ongoing investigation and internal inspection, the heads still retained their positions, which could have interfered with establishing the objective truth in the case," the agency said, "the above-mentioned persons left their posts based on personal statements."
Justice Minister Paata Salia has approved Giorgi Pataridze as the new chief of the prison service. Pataridze previously served as deputy minister of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labor, Health, and Social Affairs.
Bachiashvili was attacked in prison on July 8. He described it as a "coordinated activity between the prison administration and criminals." The penitentiary agency confirmed the beating but said it was a fight between Bachiashvili and another inmate in which both were injured. A criminal investigation was opened on charges of violence.
On August 21, the agency said the incident may have been carried out jointly by prison staff, inmates, and Bachiashvili himself.
