Local Self-Government Representatives Speak about Unreasonable Expenditure of Budget Funds

Lado Bitchashvili, Shida Kartli

Chairman of the Gori City Council Ilia Metreveli purchased a flight ticket to Poland from the Council’s budget but then he changed his mind after having consultation with Irakli Okruashvili, his advisor. The Council Chairman requested the air-company to reimburse the money but they returned only 155 GEL out of 905 GEL.

“If I had gone to Poland, I would have that spent money but now I have part of the spent money back. In order not to leave the city without governor, I decided to stay,” Ilia Metreveli clarified.

Before his clarification Irakli Okruashvili, the chairman’s advisor, made a statement with local TV-Company.

“I advised the chairman of the City Council it would not be good if the City Mayor, the Council Chairman and his deputy would leave the city without leader. Of course, he agreed with me,” Irakli Okruashvili said.

The members of the Gori self-government’s delegation to Poland were: the city mayor Zurab Jirkvelishvili, his advisor Shalva Tlashadze, deputy chairman of the city council Zurab Rosebashvili and member of the council Zaza Mezvrishvili.

At the bureau session of the city council the council member Tamar Tedliashvili asked the chairman who would reimburse the unreasonably spent 908 GEL that was allocated for the ticket but the chairman did not answer her question.

“When Ilia Metreveli was member of the City Council, he protested similar facts. Now he, as a chairman of the Council, unreasonably spent budget funds and abused his power,” the Council member Tamar Tedliashvili said.

According to her, Ilia Metreveli first exceeded limit of employing supernumerary people when he appointed Irakli Okruashvili to the position of his advisor and next when he appointed his party-member Ramaz Sharikadze on the position of technical manager in the city council’s office. However, Tamar Tedliashvili has some other complaints too. She blamed Metreveli in the misuse of administrative resources because the council chairman met his party activists in the session hall of the city council. Tedliashvili spoke about the use of the official page of the City Council in social network for the party purposes – for example the interviews with Irakli Okruashvili were uploaded on the page while the information about the activities of other council members and the announcements of the Council are not placed there.

Ilia Metreveli said he had met those citizens, who worked as election district coordinators during 2014 self-governmental elections but since then they have no connection with the Georgian Party. As for the official page of the City Council in social media, the chairman said he would inquire this fact.

Several days ago, advisor to the City Council Chairman Irakli Okruashvili made a special statement about the funds spent on business trips of the employees of the Gori City Hall and the Mayor himself. He blamed the mayor in unreasonable expenditure of funds and as he summarized, Zurab Jirkvelishvili has already spent 20 000 GEL on his business trips since he was elected to the position.

Shalva Tlashadze reacted to his statement and blamed Okruashvili in dissemination of incorrect information. Shalva Tlashadze presented the total expenditure of the Gori City Mayor on his business trips in 2015 that made only 2 000 GEL as the advisor said.