TBILISI, August 24 – Georgian prosecutors on Monday charged former prime minister Irakli Garibashvili with taking 750,000 GEL of bribes in relation to secret Defense Ministry purchases.
The Prosecutor General’s Office said the case concerns three classified procurements in 2022 for medical equipment and supplies needed by the Defense Ministry. Garibashvili was prime minister at the time.
According to prosecutors, companies linked to the scheme supplied goods and services worth 11.5 million GEL to the ministry for almost 18.5 million GEL, causing the state an estimated loss of 6.99 million GEL.
Prosecutors allege that former defense minister Juansher Burchuladze agreed with Garibashvili to arrange the procurements so that companies connected to a selected businessman would win at inflated prices.
The businessman allegedly paid 1.9 million GEL in cash, around 10% of the contract value, to Burchuladze’s relative Vasil Mkheidze. Prosecutors say Mkheidze kept 400,000 GEL and passed 1.5 million to Burchuladze, who allegedly kept half and handed the remaining 750,000 GEL to Garibashvili in several cash payments.
The prosecution said the investigation took a new turn on August 12, when Mkheidze, who has already been convicted, approached authorities and offered information. Burchuladze also cooperated with investigators, according to prosecutors. Burchuladze has already been sentenced to 10 years in prison in connection with the case.
Garibashvili is charged with taking a particularly large bribe as part of a group while holding political office. The charge carries a possible sentence of 11 to 15 years.
He is already serving a five-year prison sentence in a separate criminal case, so prosecutors said they are asking the court only to schedule a pre-trial hearing on the new charge.
The new case comes days after Garibashvili launched a public attack on his former allies in Georgian Dream. In letters sent from prison Monday and Tuesday last week, he accused the ruling establishment of trying to force him to admit another corruption offense in order to ensure that he never returned to politics. He described the process against him as a “dirty provocation”.
Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze, a senior Georgian Dream figure, claimed Monday that Garibashvili may have known that an investigation was underway and that his prison letters could have been intended to pre-empt the new charges.
Garibashvili served as prime minister of Georgia for two separate periods (2013-2015 and 2021-2024). He was for years one of Georgian Dream’s leading figures and a close ally of party founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, later taking over as party chairman, before eventually withdrawing from politics.
