In recent years, public servants and political officeholders in Georgia have increasingly relied on gifts to balance discrepancies between declared income and expenditures. However, as materials from criminal cases initiated against former public officials show, justifying expenses that exceed income through gifted funds has not proven to be a fully reliable solution.
Former Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili is accused of legalizing especially large amounts of illegal income, namely money laundering. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, Garibashvili received various illegal incomes and declared false information in his asset declarations, claiming that he annually received large sums of money as gifts from family members.
For example, according to a declaration filed in 2025, Garibashvili stated that his parents gifted him 200,000 GEL in the previous year, while in 2023 he reported receiving 150,000 GEL. In addition, Garibashvili declared that his pensioner parents covered the costs of family travel and charter flights. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, a search of his residence resulted in the seizure of 6.5 million US dollars in cash, jewelry, and gold bars.
Media outlets had previously raised questions about the scale of gifts received by the Garibashvili family and the proportionality of these gifts to their expenses. However, relevant state institutions showed little public interest in the issue and did not respond to these questions.
It remains unclear whether the legality of transferring a state forest plot in Bakuriani to the former prime minister’s wife under a 49-year lease agreement is under review. Near this forest, Irakli Garibashvili built a luxury residence that is mortgaged to Cartu Bank.
Media outlets, including Batumelebi, have also repeatedly reported on the enrichment and gifts received by former Defense Minister Juansher Burchuladze.
Gifts Received by the Interior Minister’s Wife
Gifts are also being received by current officials or their family members. Among them is the family of Interior Minister Gela Geladze. According to the most recent asset declaration, the minister’s wife, Natia Elizbarashvili, received a gift of 150,000 US dollars from her parents in 2024.
According to the declaration filed by the minister on February 26, 2025, while Gela Geladze was serving as Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, his wife used the gifted funds to purchase a hotel room under construction on Kazbegi Avenue in Tbilisi. The declaration also states that in 2024 Natia Elizbarashvili received four separate transfers of 1,000 British pounds each from a parent, totaling 4,000 pounds.
Ministry of Education Official Received Half a Million Lari from His Father
Giorgi Kuchukhidze, Head of the Financial Management and Analysis Division at the Ministry of Education, received a gift of half a million lari from his father, more precisely 528,142 GEL. Kuchukhidze indicated in his declaration that the funds were gifted for the purpose of purchasing an apartment. According to the same declaration, in 2024 he purchased two apartments on Kandelaki Street in Tbilisi, paying a total of 528,151 GEL. The combined area of the two apartments is 144 square meters.
MP’s Mother Purchased Commercial Property for 350,000 Dollars and Gifted Cash to His Wife
According to an asset declaration filed on January 31, 2025, substantial gifts were received by Georgian Dream MP Aleksandre Tabatadze and his wife. Both received gifts from Tabatadze’s mother. His wife, Ia Iadze-Tabatadze, received 95,000 US dollars, while Aleksandre Tabatadze received non-residential property valued at 350,000 US dollars.
According to his declaration, Aleksandre Tabatadze held two positions in 2024. He served as First Deputy Chair and Chair of the Parliamentary Defense and Security Committee.
Defense Ministry Official Received 247,199 GEL from His Mother
According to his declaration, Kakha Esebua, Head of the Policy and Analysis Division at the Ministry of Defense, received a gift from his mother last year. He received the funds in three installments, totaling 247,199 GEL. Esebua explained in his declaration that his mother sold one of her apartments and received 161,900 GEL as income.
Tbilisi City Council Chair Received 60,000 Dollars from His Father
According to a declaration filed in 2024, Giorgi Tkemaladze, Chair of the previous convocation of the Tbilisi City Council, received a gift of 60,000 US dollars from his father. According to a declaration filed in 2023, he also received 50,000 US dollars as a gift from his father in 2022.
In addition, Tkemaladze stated that in 2023 his brother transferred him 6,000 US dollars and 3,500 GEL in installments, while his child transferred him 12,000 euros. In this case, he did not specify whether the funds were gifts, but listed them as income.
Judges and Gifts from Mothers
According to a declaration filed in 2024, Judge Giorgi Mikautadze received a gift of 50,000 US dollars from his mother. Declarations filed in 2023 show that he received an additional 100,000 US dollars from her.
According to a 2024 declaration, Judge Davit Tsereteli also received a substantial cash gift. In 2023, his mother gifted him 156,000 US dollars.
According to a 2023 declaration, Constitutional Court Judge Eva Gotsiridze received a significant monetary gift. A family member gifted her 19,600 euros, although the identity of the family member was not specified.
Gifts Received by a Prosecutor
According to a declaration filed in 2024, Prosecutor Giorgi Shaphatava received cash gifts from his father twice in 2023. His father first gifted him 800,000 US dollars and later an additional 70,000 US dollars. The prosecutor stated that the funds originated from the sale of property.
That same year, Shaphatava also received a substantial gift from his sister. She gifted him 142,000 US dollars. In addition, Shaphatava indicated that he repaid 12,820 GEL to his sister that had previously been transferred as a loan.
The gifts did not end there. According to the same declaration, the prosecutor himself gifted funds to his wife, Nino Tsatsiashvili, amounting to nearly 200,000 GEL, 2,000 euros, and 1,000 US dollars. Nino Tsatsiashvili, in turn, gifted her husband 14,000 GEL.
MP Received Seven Land Plots, Three Apartments, and Other Property
Between 2021 and 2023, MP Irakli Kirtskhalia received eight land plots, two houses, and one technical facility as gifts.
Parents Covered Education Costs of Giorgi Amilakhvari’s Child
Giorgi Amilakhvari served as Minister of Education in 2023 and 2024. Prior to that, he was a member of the tenth convocation of Parliament from the ruling party and is currently a consultant at the Black Sea International University. In 2025, Amilakhvari again filed an asset declaration as a former official. According to this declaration, the tuition fee of his child, Nitsa Amilakhvari, amounting to 62,455 pounds, was paid by the former minister’s parents, Zaur and Rusudan Amilakhvari.
Gifts Received by Deputy Ministers of Education
Deputy Minister of Education Baia Kvitsiani and her spouse received monetary gifts eight times last year. Kvitsiani received 4,500 US dollars and 3,000 GEL from her father, while her sister gifted her 3,000 GEL and 4,000 US dollars, and her brother gifted her 6,000 GEL. According to the declaration, Kvitsiani’s parents gifted her husband 20,000 US dollars, and his brother received 3,123 US dollars as a gift.
In total, the family received more than 30,000 US dollars and 16,000 GEL in gifts.
Another deputy minister, Tamar Makharashvili, received a country house in Borjomi from her parents. She stated in her declaration that she received the land plot as a gift in 2020 and began construction of the country house in 2021. For this purpose, the family took out a mortgage loan of 23,000 euros.
Officials Received 6.6 Million GEL in Cash Gifts in January to August 2025
According to research by Transparency International Georgia, between January and August 2025, 198 officials declared receiving gifts with a total value of 12 million GEL. Thirty officials also declared gifts worth a total of 1.8 million GEL in 2024.
According to the study, officials received 76 properties, 11 vehicles, and four firearms as gifts. Sixty-one percent of the total value, amounting to 7.5 million GEL, came from parents.
High-ranking officials who received gifts worth more than 100,000 GEL include Supreme Court Judge Mamuka Vasadze, Constitutional Court member Manana Kobakhidze, and Members of Parliament Ilia Injia and Guram Macharashvili.
According to the organization, employees of the Ministry of Defense received the highest total value of gifts, amounting to 1.5 million GEL, while employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and judges each received gifts totaling 1.3 million GEL.
Between January and August 2025, nearly 5,000 public officials filed asset declarations.
To prevent illicit enrichment, officials are required to declare any gift received by themselves or their family members with a value exceeding 500 GEL. Officials are prohibited from accepting gifts that may influence the performance of their official duties or that exceed 5 percent of their annual salary, the organization notes.
Transparency International Georgia also reports that cash gifts are often given in US dollars or euros. For example, of the 12 million GEL in gifts declared in 2024, 4.6 million GEL was denominated in US dollars and 200,000 GEL in euros.