TBILISI, DFWatch — The Prosecutor’s Office has forwarded the National Audit Office results of its investigation into the National Movement Party’s eleven rallies last September.

The rallies were held September 8 in different regions of the country to show off support.

Documentation by the Prosecutor’s Office shows that President Mikheil Saakashvili’s party made use of an illegal scheme to provide petrol for the minibuses which shuttled people to the rallies.

Mikheil Machavariani, former Secretary General of the UNM, rented minibus companies for this porpose in Zugdidi in the west of Georgia.

“A fraud scheme was developed to use a large amount of petrol,” the statement reads. “The Interior Ministry was involved in this scheme.”


The Ministry organized the distribution of free petrol talons for 54 000 liters of diesel. Talons were given to the governor of Zugdidi municipality, who gave them away to 393 minibus drivers.

The same scheme was repeated September 23, in Zugdidi. This time USD 72 000 was spent on transport expenses without it being recorded in the appropriate documents.

“Davit Alavidze, Deputy Mayor of the city, paid an illegal donation in favor of the party.”

Georgian legislation applies many restrictions on party donations. The financial monitoring service was set up at the National Audit Office in 2011 and monitors party financing. The Prosecutor’s Office has forwarded the documentation to the monitoring service for further investigation.