Mayor’s Office rechecks subordinated LTDs
By Tatia Megeneishvili
Friday, August 22
Tbilisi Mayor’s office is going to check all its subordinated LTDs. The initiative belongs to the Mayor of Tbilisi Davit Narmania.
According to Narmania, there are suspicions over misspending of money by the LTDs.
“I have requested to the ministry of finance to launch revision of the financial and economic activities of the Mayor’s Office’ subordinated LTDs, which have not been checked for years. There is some information that the LTDs might have damaged the Tbilisi budget. We want to make the situation clear. All the LTDs will be checked, without exceptions,” Narmania said.
Under the appeal, the Investigation Department of the Ministry of Finances entered the funeral bureau Hermes. Press speaker of the Ministry of Finances Giorgi Grdzelishvili said that the investigation has begun with two articles.
According to Grdzelishvili, the investigation is focusing on tax evasion, misappropriation and embezzlement.
"No one has been detained and questioned at this moment. However, the investigation is ongoing. The investigation department seized the documents from Hermes on August 21,” stated Grdzelishvli.
Narmania said that he was surprised when he found out that the Funeral Bureau was funded from The Tbilisi budget.
“This company received subsidies from the budget. I don’t understand why they needed the budget support, when the LTD has 21 municipal graveyards in ownership. It appears to be a successful business,” Narmania said.
The head of the LTD is Valerian Skhiereli. When the investigators arrived at the company only guards were at the scene. Skharieli had not made any statement with regard to the case yet.
The Mayor’s Office has refrained from commenting about the companies that are supposed to be checked. The number of such LTDs is around 20.