Day: June 16, 2026
The State Security Service of Georgia (SSSG) has opened criminal proceedings against former Georgian Railway CEO Davit Peradze and seven other individuals over an alleged large-scale corruption scheme. Six of them were detained, while two, including Peradze, were declared wanted.
The alleged criminal scheme involves, among other claims, large-scale fraud, abuse of official position, document forgery, and money laundering. If convicted, the suspects face nine to twelve years in prison.
Davit Peradze headed Georgian Railway from 2017 until May 2025, when he was replaced by Lasha Abashidze. Peradze reportedly had close ties with Georgian Dream founder and Honorary Chairman Bidzina Ivanishvili. From 2007 to 2011, he held several roles at Ivanishvili’s Cartu Group, and from 2014 to 2017, he served as director of Mtkvari HES Ltd., a hydro-energy project backed by Ivanishvili’s Co-Investment Fund.
Alleged Scrap Metal Scheme
Emzar Gagnidze, director of the SSSG’s Anti-Corruption Agency, announced the alleged criminal scheme at the June 16 briefing.
According to him, in the fall of 2019, Peradze formed an “organized criminal group acting in coordination and with a structured form” to fraudulently seize large amounts of property belonging to JSC Georgian Railway. The scheme was designed so that scrap metal belonging to the state company would be collected, transported, cut, and sorted for subsequent sale “in such a form that it would become impossible to determine its exact original quantity.”
At the same time, Magradze added, pre-selected companies were used to create false tax documents that would give the stolen metal an “ostensibly legal origin” before it was sold on.
“Davit Peradze gradually involved numerous persons in the criminal scheme, including the then Infrastructure Director of JSC Georgian Railway. Also involved in the criminal scheme was another person who had actual control over several business entities: LLC ‘Kakheti’, LLC ‘Nova Transi,’ LLC ‘Jadeksa,’ LLC ‘Construction and Repair Company Khuro,’ and LLC ‘Grand Kakheti’,” the SSSG official said.
He added that “in accordance with the criminal agreement,” Georgian Railway announced two tenders on February 8 and September 9, 2020, for the procurement of services for the transportation, sorting, cutting, and collection of scrap metal. LLC Kakheti, which was under the “actual control of persons involved in the criminal scheme, was declared the winner,” he said.
“Bypassing authorized employees of JSC Georgian Railway,” Gagnidze said, one person ensured that the scrap metal to be removed was taken from the railway “without counting and weighing, and in some cases with artificially reduced quantities” recorded in documents. He added that documents were arranged so that “it would become impossible in the future to identify the person responsible for the existence of a shortage,” leading to the write-off of missing material from the company’s balance sheet.
Part of the collected metal was allegedly transported directly to the Rustavi-based company LLC Geostil instead of being stored in warehouses, Maghradze said, adding that in order to conceal the metal’s criminal origin and facilitate its sale, the group allegedly produced “false tax documents” for the business entities participating in the crime.
Maghradze added that “during 2020–2021, through deception and with the intent of unlawful appropriation, a total of 22,120 tons of scrap metal belonging to JSC Georgian Railway was seized,” which, after a change of origin, was “purchased by LLC Geostil for GEL 17,391,121. The funds received from LLC ‘Geostil’ were accumulated in the bank accounts of LLC ‘Nova Transi’ and LLC ‘Jadeksa’, and were periodically withdrawn in cash and distributed among the group members.”
The investigation also covers a separate contract allegedly signed on April 29, 2022, between Georgian Railway and LLC Raveld for the repair of railway-track defects. According to Maghradze, the contract was worth USD 999,768 and provided for the welding of up to 1,600 rail units, with payments tied to “acceptance-transfer acts.”
Maghradze said that the director of LLC Raveld, “acting in agreement with Georgian Railway’s then-Infrastructure Director,” deliberately inflated the number of completed rail welds in official documents. The records claimed that 1,200 rail units had been welded, while investigators say only 987 were actually completed. The false documents were signed by Georgian Railway employees under the instruction of the infrastructure director, the agency said. As a result, Raveld received an excess payment of GEL 403,844.
“Active investigative actions continue at the Anti-Corruption Agency of the State Security Service for the purpose of identifying other members of the organized group and implementing the measures provided for by law against them,” Maghradze warned.
Also Read:
- 22/05/2026 – State Security Service Arrests Former Deputy Chief Levan Akhobadze on Bribery Allegations
- 05/05/2026 – SSSG Arrests Georgian Official, Who Had Worked for Ivanishvili’s Cartu Group, on Espionage Allegations
- 25/04/2026 – Former Employee Arrested on Accusations of ‘Taking Out Classified Information’ From SSSG
First fines were reported over “insulting” both a Georgian Dream official and an opposition figure as Interior Ministry’s newly established Division for Combating Hate Speech reported submitting up to 60 cases to courts since the start of operation on June 1. In both cases, the court reportedly issued rulings without hearing the position of those subject to “insults.”
The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) said on June 15 that seven of up to 60 cases have already resulted in rulings, while preparatory hearings have been scheduled in 30 cases. The announcement comes as first two fines were reported over alleged “insults” against Georgian Dream lawmaker Nino Tsilosani and opposition Ahali party leader Nika Gvaramia, with the later saying that he was unaware of the proceedings.
On June 15, lawyer Shota Tutberidze said that he was fined GEL 4,000 [USD 1,500] by Tbilisi City Court in one of the “hate-speech division” cases after being found guilty of insulting Tsilosani. The case reportedly refers to Tutberidze’s Facebook comment posted on June 2 on a Facebook post by Tsilosani, who was visiting Canada at the time.
Tutberidze was fined under Article17316, which covers insulting a public official and is punishable by a fine from GEL 1,500 to GEL 4,000 or administrative detention of up to 45 days.
Tutberidze told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Georgian service that the court was unaware of Tsilosani’s stance. He said the defence asked the court “how can an act of insult be established if you do not find out whether someone felt offended, especially Nino Tsilosani, who was neither interviewed nor questioned?”
Against initial reports that the fine against Tutberidze was the first ruling in the cases launched by the division, the Interior Ministry said that first actual judgment was delivered on June 12 by the Oni Magistrate Court.
In a separate case, it was reported on June 16 that a person, Giorgi Gedenidze, was fined 2,000 [USD 755] for “petty hooliganism” as part of similar proceedings for allegedly writing an offensive comment about opposition Ahali party leader Nika Gvaramia on June 3 on a social media post of pro-government Imedi TV channel. Gvaramia wrote on Facebook that he learned about the ruling from media, and that he was unaware of both Gedenidze’s identity and the fact of offence.
“If I am not offended, is it that the state ‘protects’ my dignity without my position?” Gvaramia asked, adding: “It wasn’t enough that they fine me and arrest me and now I have to worry about others being fined because of me.”
MIA told Civil.ge that Gedenidze was fined under Article 166 of the Administrative Offence Code, which covers petty hooliganism” and includes “swearing in a public space, offensive targetting of citizens, and other similar acts that disturb public order and/or citizens’ peace.” The Ministry said that the article does not require a complaint from a citizen for authorities to respond.
The offence is punishable by a fine from GEL 500 to GEL 3,000 or administrative detention of up to 20 days.
The Division for Combating Hate Speech began operating on June 1 with an initial staff of ten people within the ministry’s Human Rights Protection Department.
The division is tasked with monitoring and proactively identifying publicly disseminated statements that allegedly violate human dignity, contain insults, or constitute hate speech under Georgia’s Administrative Offenses Code.
The unit is also responsible for identifying alleged offenders, establishing their identities, preparing administrative case materials, drafting offense reports, and referring cases to courts in accordance with jurisdictional rules.
Also Read:
- 20/05/2026 – ECtHR Finds No Violation of Freedom of Expression in Georgian Activist’s Viral TikTok Case
- 18/04/2026 – Ivanishvili’s Son Laments ‘Violence’, ‘Polarization’, Calls for ‘Discussion, Debate’
- 09/07/2025 – Activist Jailed for Five Days Over “Insult” in Facebook Comment
- 12/06/2025 – Politicians, Journalists, Activists Summoned to Court Over Social Media “Insults” to GD MPs
- 06/06/2025 – Georgian Dream to Sue Critics Over “Insults” on Social Media
The British Embassy in Georgia said on June 16 that the United Kingdom’s new sanctions package against Russia includes the vessel Silvar, which, according to the embassy, “accessed a Georgian port earlier this year.”
The vessel, identified as “IMO 9291262 (SILVAR)” in the United Kingdom’s latest Russia sanctions designations, is listed among the ships “involved in transporting Russian oil to third countries.”
The ship is among a total of 70 new targets, which, according to the UK government, include “Russia’s decrepit shadow fleet, military procurement supply chains and illicit finance networks used to circumvent sanctions.”
“The UK has now sanctioned almost 500 individuals, entities and ships under its Russia sanctions regime in 2026 alone, as allied support for Ukraine tops the G7 agenda,” the UK government said.
The announcement came just two days after British authorities seized the Russian “shadow fleet” vessel Smyrtos in the English Channel, with Georgia’s Maritime Transport Agency confirming on June 15 that three Georgian citizens were among the 24 crew members aboard.
Silvar in Georgian Port
While the British Embassy has not provided any further details about the vessel, a February 5 report by Georgia’s investigative outlet iFact said that Silvar, then sanctioned by Ukraine, entered Georgia’s territorial waters on January 30, 2026.
According to the outlet, citing Ukrainian intelligence, the vessel was part of Russia’s “shadow fleet.” It added that it entered Kulevi port on Georgia’s coast a day after departing Russia’s Novorossiysk oil terminal.
iFact estimated that the tanker unloaded “up to 24,000 tons of oil or petroleum products” at Kulevi port between February 2 and 6 before departing for Istanbul, where the outlet said it was expected to arrive on February 8.
iFact further said the vessel’s owner and management companies were also sanctioned by the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom in 2024 and 2025. The outlet said that, at the time of its report, the vessel was owned by an Indian company.
Kulevi Controversy
The Kulevi oil refinery, operated by Georgian company Black Sea Petroleum, has been under scrutiny in recent months over its alleged role in facilitating Russian oil exports. The controversy also extended to Kulevi port, which, on the other hand, is owned and operated by Azerbaijan’s SOCAR.
The port was initially considered for inclusion in the European Union’s 20th sanctions package against Russia. The EU ultimately decided not to include the port in the package, citing “positive commitments” by Georgian authorities and the terminal’s operator, SOCAR.
Also Read:
- 27/05/2026 – UK Sanctions Three Georgia-Registered Companies in Crackdown on Russia Sanctions Evasion
- 26/01/2026 – Stressing Sanctions Compliance, Kobakhidze Cites 2,658 Cases of Customs Refusals in 2025
- 12/01/2026 – Revenue Service Stresses Georgia’s Sanctions Compliance Over Russian-Origin Oil Shipment
- 19/12/2025 – UK Calls on Georgia to Curb Russian Oil Imports Amid Wider Sanctions
- 22/10/2025 – Russian Company Supplies First Oil Cargo to Georgia’s New Kulevi Refinery