Corruption in the Georgian Railway

Even though corruption is peaking within the Georgian Railway, no action is taken.

By Imeda  Darsalia 
2009, 15.02
Maestro TV Company and Kavkasia (Georgian TV channel) 

Tbilisi, Georgia

After the Rose Revolution Financial Police of Georgia revealed numerous irregularities and criminal deals that were practiced in the Railway of Georgia. However in the process of inquiry the investigators who uncovered those irregularities were replaced and their acts were classified. Senior Financial Police inspector, Tengiz Tsiklauri, who wrote 12 of those acts, was fired from his job.

Our investigative team attempted to get access to those acts through official requests. All our requests were rejected by official structures. But we still managed to get four of them through our confidential source. Those documents describe serious violations of law. A number of people were formally charged because of those violations. Director of finances of the Railway of Georgia, Amiran Tevzadze was arrested and charged with willful embezzlement.

A month later, in his testimony, chief of the Railway of Georgia, Irakli Ezugbaia told prosecutors that Tevzadze’s actions had caused no damages to the railway. Tevzadze’s charges were eased and he was freed from jail. Moreover, Amiran Tevzadze was eventually reinstalled in his old position as a director of finances of the Railway of Georgia.

1.500 000 US dollars in losses
Controversial tenders are subjects of a number of Financial Police acts that we got. According to one of those acts the Railway of Georgia announced Dnepropetrovsk Railway Car Repair Factory winner of the tender to modernise 19 railroad cars and a dining car, even though Tbilisi Electric Train Repair Factory, also participating in the tender, was asking 800 thousand dollars less, then the Ukrainian company for the job. According to the Financial Police document, the decision of the tender commission, has caused the Railway of Georgia and the state budget of Georgia 1 500 000 American dollars in losses.

However, it is not controversial tenders alone that have caused the Railway of Georgia and the state budget millions of lari in damages. Former railway officials say that a faulty tradition of outdating railroad cars, that originates from the days of the former Railway chief Akaki Chkhaidze, has been successfully continued under Ezugbaia. The same sources say that this criminal business is run by the same group of people who were in charge of it in the past.

This investigation is done with support from the Danish Association for Investigative Journalism / Scoop.

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