Audit report of the Mountain Resorts Company sent to Prosecutor’s Office
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Wednesday, May 5
"Mountain Resorts Development Company", a company subordinated to the Ministry of Economy, manages the resorts of Bakuriani, Goderdzi, Tetnuldi and Gudauri. By the end of April, the State Audit Office released a report on compliance with the company, which revealed a number of violations and was eventually sent to the investigating agency.
According to the audit report, the company signed contracts for projects worth GEL159 million while there were no construction permits issued for these projects. The audit states it is problematic when a state-owned company carries out unauthorized construction. According to the conclusion, the construction started without a building permit may harm the environment or the population.
Unauthorized construction is not the only type of violation found by the State Audit Office in the company. Violations include unjustified spending on the budget for tons of fuel.
Among others, another violation found by the audit office was the question of free subscriptions issued by the company. Note, that the main income of the Mountain Resorts Development Company is a state subsidy of millions of GEL, which is received by the company for the construction of infrastructure. As an independent source of income, the company sells cable transport fees at resorts. The recently published report shows that the company distributes these seasonal tickets free of charge to its employees and their family members as well as "VIPs". According to the report, in 2018-2019 alone, the company issued GEL261,000 worth of seasonal tickets to these individuals without even listing the identity of the owners of these seasonal passes. Furthermore, the report clarifies that there are no criteria by which the so-called Issuance of ‘VIP’ season tickets is regulated.
The Audit Office also found problematic that the director of a company increased salary for himself without any justification - as the agency estimates the director of the company is an ‘unauthorized person’ to increase his own salary. The report emphasized that the issuance of the order related to the increase of remuneration as a result of which from November 2016 to November 2018 the salary of the former director of the company was unjustifiably increased by a total of GEL109,021, violated the requirements of the current legislation.
