TV Report: Officials Use State Funds for Medical Treatment
Beso Jugeli, a lawmaker from the ruling party, and Minister for Refugees and Accommodation Gia Kheviashvili have asked that the state provide 10,000 Swiss francs (USD 8,200) and EUR 1,270, respectively, to pay for their medical treatment, an Imedi TV report has alleged.
The Tbilisi-based television station reported on July 5 that it had obtained letters sent to Healthcare Minister Lado Chipashvili by both men, asking for funding.
The station cited a letter from Minister Kheviashvili: “I am a socially vulnerable person; I need medical treatment; please provide assistance.”
Minister Kheviashvili has declined to comment and Jugeli, who, according to Imedi TV, is currently in a clinic in Switzerland, told a journalist by phone: “It is none of your business.”
A letter from Minister Chipashvili, instructing the Georgian Unified State Fund for Social Insurance to transfer the requested sums was also shown on the report.
Vakhtang Surguladze, chief of the Georgian Unified State Fund for Social Insurance, told Imedi TV that he had followed the Healthcare Ministry’s instructions.
“Our agency is an executive one and we implement instructions from the Healthcare Ministry,” he said. “So you should ask the Ministry for comment.”
The healthcare minister declined to comment, according to Imedi TV.
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