Month: September 2026
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【解説】窓・サッシの性能｜JIS等級と実務での選び方
Tbilisi City Court sentenced Megis Kardava, a jailed former senior Defense Ministry official and one of the most controversial figures under the United National Movement government already been convicted in several high-profile criminal cases, to 11 years in prison over alleged misappropriation and embezzlement of GEL 768,107 in state funds. The sentence was subsequently reduced to five years and six months under the 2012 Georgian Amnesty Law, the Prosecutor’s Office said on September 22.
Kardava had been wanted by the Georgian authorities since 2013 on multiple charges in eleven criminal cases. He was detained in Ukraine in 2017 and extradited from Kyiv in 2021. He has previously been found guilty in cases concerning the Navtlugi special operation, the 2006 prison riot, the torture and sexual abuse videos case, as well as organizing the torture and sexual abuse of retired colonel Sergo Tetradze, for which Kardava was sentenced to nine years in prison in absentia.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the latest case concerns the alleged misappropriation and embezzlement of GEL 768,107 between November 16, 2011, and August 2012, with the funds allegedly taken under the guise of operational expenses with the assistance of other senior Defense Ministry officials.
The agency said that on May 22, 2012, Kardava, then head of the Military Police Department, submitted a written request to then-Defense Minister Bacho Akhalaia “under the article on covert expenses,” requesting GEL 330,000 for the department.
“With the minister’s consent, the funds transferred to the Military Police Department’s account were withdrawn from one of the banks on Megis Kardava’s instructions and converted, after which Megis Kardava illegally appropriated 200,000 US dollars,” the prosecutor’s office said.
According to the agency, fictitious documents were subsequently prepared on Kardava’s orders to conceal the misappropriation and embezzlement, “purporting to show that funds had been spent by a unit of the Military Police Department deployed to the Republic of Afghanistan for operational-search activities.” This allowed the funds in question “to be written off and the accounting records to be reconciled accordingly.”
The latest case is not Kardava’s first conviction for embezzlement. In September 2023, he was found guilty of embezzling GEL 60,000 belonging to the Defense Ministry and sentenced to eight years in prison. The sentence was subsequently reduced to four years under the Georgian Amnesty Law, along with a six-month ban on holding public office or employment.
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According to a study by Transparency International Georgia (TI), a significant share of the funding for the pro-government and anti-Western People’s Power party comes from people who have previously funded, or continue to fund, the ruling Georgian Dream party.
The study found that, as of August 2026, 28 people had donated a total of 861,750 lari [~$320,000] to People’s Power, which split from Georgian Dream in 2022. Of these, 21 had previously donated 1,969,169 lari [~$730,000] to Georgian Dream. Another three continue to fund both parties.
TI says these financial links indicate that People’s Power is not independent of the political and business circles surrounding Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili.
The study highlights a group of businesspeople and companies linked to Ivanishvili’s circle. According to the organisation, members of this group donated a total of 381,000 lari [~$141,000] to People’s Power between 2024 and 2026.
One of them is Archil Mamatashvili, CEO of JSC Cartu Insurance Company and a member of the supervisory board of Ivanishvili-linked Artu Holding. In 2025–2026, Mamatashvili donated 70,000 lari [~$26,000] to People’s Power. He had previously donated 55,600 lari [~$20,600] to Georgian Dream.
According to the study, Cartu Insurance Company received government and municipal procurement contracts worth around 3.5 million lari [~$1.3 million]. Other company representatives — Alla Kakhniаuri, Kakha Kobiashvili, Zaza Verdzеuli, Givi Lebanidze and Zurab Chachkhiani — donated a total of around 1 million lari [~$370,000] to Georgian Dream.
Another major donor to People’s Power is Giorgi Damenia, a business partner of Bidzina Ivanishvili’s brother, Alexander Ivanishvili, in the company Tornado+. In 2025–2026, he donated 120,000 lari [~$44,400] to the party. Damenia had previously donated 170,000 lari [~$63,000] to Georgian Dream, while Tornado+ itself donated 85,000 lari [~$31,500] to Ivanishvili’s party between 2016 and 2018.
Another member of Ivanishvili’s business circle is Irakli Bekaури, CEO of Bolero & Company, owned by Vakhtang Karichashvili. Karichashvili, who holds Georgian and Russian citizenship, has been described as a business partner of Ivanishvili’s cousin, Ucha Mamatshvili. According to the study, his companies rank among Georgia’s largest wine exporters to Russia. Between 2014 and 2024, his companies received 56 million lari [~$20.7 million] in subsidies from Georgia’s Agriculture Ministry.
In 2026, Bekauri donated 60,000 lari [~$22,200] to People’s Power. He had previously donated 327,000 lari [~$121,000] to Georgian Dream.
Among people linked to Bekauri and Karichashvili is Levan Getsadze. Public Registry records list him at various times as a representative of companies linked to Ucha Mamatshvili’s business partners. Getsadze donated 13,000 lari [~$4,800] to People’s Power, which the study says was his first political donation.
For many years, Getsadze owned Trezor, a company founded in 2019 that operated a medical laboratory in Tbilisi. Soon after its establishment, the company began taking part in public procurement and has since received contracts worth around 3.2 million lari [~$1.19 million]. The laboratory is now owned by the US company Quest Biosciences LLC.
The study also links another major People’s Power donor, David Balanchivadze, to Ucha Mamatshvili’s business circle. In 2016–2017, the investigative journalism studio Monitor linked Balanchivadze’s appointment as executive director of RMG GOLD to Mamatshvili’s interests.
Balanchivadze began making political donations to Georgian Dream in 2016. According to the study, he donated a total of 532,000 lari [~$197,000] to the party. In 2026, he donated 60,000 lari [~$22,200] to People’s Power.
Among the donors to People’s Power is Giorgi Meskhi, who served as director of the state-owned company Sakspetstrans from 2017 to 2020. In 2024, he donated 58,000 lari [~$21,500] to the party.
While running the state-owned company, Meskhi founded the construction company Hiteco Group with his business partner Giorgi Khujadze. Meskhi now owns 100% of the company and serves as its director. Hiteco Group is building a multi-storey hotel in Tbilisi. Meskhi also owns a 33% stake in Gonio Group.
Another People’s Power donor, Guram Tetrashvili, is director of Georgian-Israeli Business Group LLC. The company is owned by Besik Papismedov, who is involved in several construction projects in Tbilisi. Tetrashvili donated 10,000 lari [~$3,700] to the party. According to the study, this was also his first political donation.
According to Transparency International Georgia, three of the 28 donors — Aleksandre Tushuri, Mamuka Gogrchiani and Givi Gabunia — fund both People’s Power and Georgian Dream.
All three donated a total of 60,000 lari [~$22,200] to People’s Power on 11 December 2025. Three months later, on 18 February 2026, the same people donated another 60,000 lari [~$22,200] to Georgian Dream.
People’s Power was founded in August 2022 by three MPs who left Georgian Dream: Sozar Subari, Dimitri Khundadze and Mikheil Kavelashvili. It initially operated as a civic movement and registered as a political party in March 2024. Sozar Subari is the party’s chairman.
When they launched the movement, its founders said their goal was to provide the public with more information about developments in Georgian politics and defend the country’s national interests. People’s Power has been particularly vocal in criticising the influence of Western political forces and non-governmental organisations. The party initiated the draft law on the “Transparency of Foreign Influence”.
From 2022 to 2024, People’s Power formed part of the Georgian Dream parliamentary majority. In the 2024 parliamentary election, the party ran jointly with Georgian Dream. Today, People’s Power has its own parliamentary political group.
Transparency International Georgia study