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District Governors Were Changed in Adjara Simultaneously

August 30, 2013
Maka Malakmadze, Adjara

On August 23, municipal boards discussed one question in all four districts of Adjara Autonomous Republic – election of new interim district governor. Old governors personally wrote resignation letters in all four districts.

Kobuleti district

There are 27 members of a municipal board in Kobuleti. 25 of them attended the session and elected Giorgi Romanadze to the position of an interim district governor with 25 votes. Romanadze has 16-year working experience in bank sector and gives lectures at business school. It is also known that Romanadze worked for the Ministry of Finance and Economy of Adjara Autonomous Republic together with the father of Archil Khabadze, chairman of Adjara Government. 

It is noteworthy that an issue of selection of a new interim governor of Kobuleti was discussed in the absence of the candidate himself.

Before him, Tengiz Zoidze occupied the position of the district governor. On July 26, Investigative unit officers of the Georgian Ministry of Finance arrested him for the abuse of authority, fabrication of tax documents and waste of particularly large amount of state funds. However, Batumi City Court did not impose any preventive measure on Zoidze and freed him fromthe courtroom. District governor Zoidze occupied the position since then, because court did not suspend his professional activities. Several weeks ago, the criminal proceeding finished with plea-agreement between Zoidze and the Prosecutor’s Office.

Municipal board’s representatives said Zoidze quitted the position voluntarily. Neither former nor new governors comment on the fact.

Khelvachauri district

Nadim Varshanidze is a new interim governor of Khelvachauri district. All 20 members of the municipal board voted in favor of him. Before, Varshanidze was a rector of Batumi Naval Academy.

Before the new governor was elected, on August 21, Khelvachauri district governor Levan Lortkipanidze quitted the job; he had sent resignation letter to the municipal board. Board members accepted his request. It is noteworthy that on March 13 officers of Counter-Corruption Agency of the MIA arrested Levan Lortkipanidze in his office. He was accused of misuse of professional authority and professional fabrication. Before that Lortkipanidze was a head of Georgian Dream’s election office in Khelvachauri district.

Although on August 8 the prosecutor’s office discharged him from criminal liability, he quitted the job. Lortkipanidze denied any connection between the prosecutor’s office decision and the resignation from the position and claims that he voluntarily resigned.

Shuakhevi and Khulo districts

Governors of Shuakhevi and Khulo districts also wished to resign. Like others, they also voluntarily made the decision. Shuakhevi district governor Tamaz Davitadze confirmed that Adjara government had promised him to move to another position though details are not known so far. 

Tariel Ebralidze replaced Davitadze in Shuakhevi. 18 out of total 19 board members were present at the session when Ebralidze was elected to the position and all of them voted for him. Tariel Ebralidze is a full professor at the Khichauri University.

Khulo district former governor Guram Khozrevanidze also decided to resign and the municipal board accepted his resignation application; Khozrevanidze said he is going to work for private sector.

22 out of 23 municipal board members attended the special session in Khulo district. Everybody voted for the nominated candidate Besik Bauchadze. He is an associated professor at Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University, department of finance, calculation and audit. 

United National Movement evaluated the process of changing district governors as an assault on municipal boards.

Several hours after the governors were replaced, Member of Adjara Supreme Council Robert Chkhaidze held a special briefing in UNM’s local office; he is sure that law enforcement bodies made decision to replace district governors: “Every municipal board was assaulted simultaneously; even the chairman of Adjara government cannot make similar decision and resignation applications are planned and finalized in the working rooms of chief law enforcement officers. In fact, municipal boards were compelled to elect candidates agreed with law enforcement bodies.”

All of the resigned governors were appointed by the new government. Only Keda district governor Vazha Bolkvadze keeps the position after the new government came into office. On August 21, he requested a holiday from the municipal board.

Givi Mamuladze from the International Organization for the Truth and Justice said that it was a political decision to change governors.

“Although former district governors claim they personally wrote resignation letters, nobody will believe it – it is absurd. It was a political decision to change them. It never happens that four district governors write resignation applications simultaneously. Apparently, the district governors were compelled to resign. Similar ungrounded decision is inadmissible for me as a head of human rights organization. Society deserves to get impartial information. I do not like the fact that only one candidate was nominated for the position. I personally attended the session in Khelvachauri but nobody asked for and listened to the action plan of the candidates; how could they know that the new governor is better than the previous, or how he sees the ways to resolve problems,” Mamuladze asked.

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