The Western Georgia District Prosecutor’s Office has arrested the former mayor of Lentekhi Municipality, Gia Oniani along with two current senior officials of the city hall, on charges of abuse of official authority. Among those detained are the head of the Architecture Service, Nugzar Tvildiani and the head of the Supervision Service, Giorgi Gulbani.
According to investigators, the case concerns construction permits that were issued illegally to benefit the former mayor’s private business interests, as well as official protection provided to the project.
The agency reports that the investigation established that after being elected mayor, Gia Oniani purchased a land plot to build a hotel and commissioned a project that did not comply with existing construction coefficients and standards. According to the prosecutor’s office:
* Oniani applied for a permit through a company registered in his wife’s name.
* The head of the Architecture Service, Nugzar Tvildiani, and the mayor himself bypassed the Basic Provisions on Development Regulation and the Construction Code.
* The permit was issued without coordination with the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation, even though a cultural heritage monument was located at the construction site.
The investigative body also highlights a conflict of interest. The hotel construction was supervised by the Supervision Service, headed by Giorgi Gulbani, who is the husband of the mayor’s wife’s sister.
According to the prosecutor’s office, the construction exceeded permitted limits and encroached on land owned by both the state and private individuals. Despite this, the Supervision Service did not halt the work and allowed the former mayor to continue the illegal construction.
“In the process of issuing the permit, Gia Oniani and Nugzar Tvildiani abused their official powers. They failed to consider the mandatory provisions of the Government of Georgia decree on the ‘Basic Provisions on Land Use and Development Regulation,’ as well as the requirements of the Spatial Planning, Architectural and Construction Activity Code. They ignored violations of the development coefficient limits, the presence of a cultural heritage monument at the construction site, and the fact that the project had not been coordinated with the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation. Under such conditions, they issued construction permits that did not comply with the law.
During the hotel construction process, the Supervision Service, headed by Giorgi Gulbani, the husband of Gia Oniani’s wife’s sister, instead of halting construction carried out in violation of legal requirements—which exceeded the boundaries of the construction site and extended onto land owned by private individuals and the state—and instead of properly supervising the protection of a nearby cultural heritage monument, allowed Gia Oniani to continue the illegal construction. As a result of the defendants’ actions, the lawful interests of the state were significantly violated,” the agency said.
