Commission Set up to Probe into MP’s Business Interests

The Georgian Parliament unanimously approved on October 26 fifteen members of a commission that will probe into allegations involving the commercial activities undertaken by Koba Bekauri, a lawmaker from the ruling National Movement party.

The parliamentary majority will have five members in the newly established commission, including Nika Gvaramia, Nino Kalandadze, Koba Dvalishvili, Kakha Sukhishvili and Temur Zhorzholiani.

The two pro-governmental factions – Majoritarians and Independent Majoritarians – who are not officially united in the parliamentary majority but are informally affiliated with the ruling party, will have two members each – Nugzar Shoshiashvili and Pridon Rukhaia from the Majoritarians and Badri Khatidze and Levan Gzirishvili from the Independent Majoritarians. The “Georgian Regions” faction, which is also affiliated with the ruling National Movement party, will be represented in the commission by one member – Guram Vakhtangashvili.

The remaining 5 seats in the commission are occupied by the opposition parliamentarians: Pikria Chikhradze and Giorgi Tsagareishvili of the New Rights party; Koba Davitashvili of the Conservative Party; Lasha Natsvlishvili of the Republican Party and Temur Dolishvili of the Labor Party.

The opposition lawmakers nominated MP Koba Davitashvili as the chairman of the commission, but the nomination was turned down by the parliamentary majority. Parliamentarians from the ruling party denounced Davitashvili’s nomination as “politically-motivated,” which will not facilitate unbiased probe. 
 
The parliamentary commission will have to investigate whether MP Bekauri was directly engaged in the management of the customs terminal Opiza, as well as find out whether it was legal or not for the parliamentarian to take an interest-free loan from a businessmen in order to purchase shares in the terminal.

An investigative report over Bekauri’s business activities, which was aired by the Tbilisi-based 202 private television station, was part of the journalistic detention scandal. Co-founder Shalva Ramishvili was arrested on August 27 and accused of blackmailing MP Koba Bekauri for USD 100,000 to not air a compromising story about the parliamentarian’s business. Shalva Ramishvili denies these accusations.