Court orders ex-Defence Minister, former State Procurement Dept Head to pay €5 mln compensation to Ministry

The Tbilisi City Court fully upheld a claim of the Ministry of Defence of Georgia and has ordered David Kezerashvili, the former Defence Minister of Georgia, and Alexander Ninua, the former Head of the State Procurement Department, to pay €5,060,000 compensation to the Ministry in an embezzlement case.

Kezerashvili and Ninua had been charged with abuse of office by the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia, as well as embezzlement of large sums of state budget, on September 7, 2021. The case is related to the transfer of a “large amount of money” by the Ministry for provision of services from Girwood Business Corporation, a company registered in an offshore zone. The Ministry claimed it had not received the services.

A number of criminal proceedings have been brought against Kezerashvili since the change of government in Georgia in late 2012. In two of them, heard in Georgian courts, Kezerashvili was convicted in absentia.

Georgia has twice requested Kezerashvili’s extradition from France and the United Kingdom, however the requests were declined.

Kezerashvili holds a 51 per cent stake in the opposition-minded Formula TV channel.that operates in Georgia.