Tbilisi Mayor’s accountability questioned amid corruption scandal, lawyer

Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze is facing scrutiny over his role in a major corruption scandal involving the city’s kindergarten management agency, a lawyer has claimed.

Lawyer Irakli Abesadze said Kaladze either has no control over his administration or may be directly involved in the alleged embezzlement. “It is impossible for the mayor of Tbilisi to avoid responsibility for all of this. There are two possibilities: either he is completely ineffective and cannot monitor what happens in his department - while the head of the State Security Service steals money right under his nose - or he is personally involved in the collection of funds from various sectors. That is why he remains silent,” Abesadze said.

The allegations center on former director of the Tbilisi Mayor’s Kindergarten Management Agency, Kakha Gvantseladze, who has been charged in absentia. Investigators say Gvantseladze received large sums of money through bribes, with protection provided by former head of the State Security Service, Grigol Liluashvili. Other agency employees were reportedly involved in the scheme.

Liluashvili himself was recently arrested. According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, he is charged for receiving particularly large bribes as part of a premeditated group. The offense carries a sentence of 11 to 15 years in prison.