Ex-Defense Officials Arrested for Purchasing ‘Faulty’ Equipment

The military police arrested on September 22 three ex-officials from the Defense Ministry’s logistics department and charged them with misuse of office. The case involves the purchase of 40 infantry combat vehicles – the BMP-2 variety. According to the Defense Ministry, 38 out of the 40 BMP-2s were faulty at the time of purchase.

Ex-chief of the logistics department of the Defense Ministry Mamuka Lomsadze and two other employees of the same department – Davit Natroshvili and Besarion Bukvaidze – whom the court sentenced to three-month pre-trial detention on September 23, were in charge of this acquisition, which took place in 2004.

The fact that new infantry combat vehicles were faulty was revealed only this July, during large-scale tank drills, under the codename Armor-2005, which took place at the Orpolo training ground. This discovery was made several months after the purchase. 

Prosecutors claim that the three ex-officials from the Defense Ministry are responsible for purchasing faulty vehicles, which resulted in the state loosing 595,000 Lari (approximately USD 330,500).

But the detainees strongly deny these accusations. “This is an absolutely fabricated case,” Mamuka Lomsadze, ex-chief of the logistics department, said in the court on September 23.

Some military analysts suggest that improper use of the new infantry combat vehicles could also be a reason for their faulty nature.

These three ex-officials were sacked from their positions this February after Irakli Okruashvili took over the Defense Minister’s office.