Defence Minister: Ex-gov’t spent millions on device to survey Ivanishvili

Georgia’s previous government spent millions from the state budget to purchase a device to allegedly spy on the residence of the founder of Georgian Dream coalition, ex-Prime Minister, multi-billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, says the country's Defence Minister.

In a television interview Minister Tinatin Khidasheli said the money had been allocated from the Defence Ministry's budget. She added now the Ministry wanted to sell the device but it was difficult to find a buyer, as only a "country with paranoiac desires” would want it.

Khidasheli said once installed, the "very large" device, which resembled a TV studio, consisted of many components and was capable of listening, watching and recording.

She noted a lot of these kind of devices had been purchased with Defence Ministry money by the previous government but these tools were no longer needed.