Representatives of the Adjara Ministry of Culture visited Athens, Greece, in October 2025.
According to information posted on the ministry’s page, the Batumi State Musical Center held a concert at the Maria Callas Concert Hall in Athens. The concert, titled “Musical Batumi in Athens,” was dedicated to the memory of Odysseas Dimitriadis. The project was organized by the Adjara Ministry of Culture with the support of the Embassy of Georgia in Greece and the Athens-based cultural, sports, and youth organization Opandas.
Photos posted on the ministry’s Facebook page show the presence of Georgian Dream Parliament member Archil Beridze, Batumi City Council member from Georgian Dream Archil Gogitidze, and Batumi Deputy Mayor Sofo Khalvashi.
These public officials actively participated in the state-funded concert as performers.
Georgian Dream’s Culture Minister Eliso Bolkvadze, Parliament member Archil Beridze, and City Council member Archil Gogitidze in Athens.
Batumelebi officially requested the Adjara Ministry of Culture to provide information on the budget allocation for this event.
We also requested a detailed list of all attendees, their status, and whether any travel or accommodation expenses were covered by the state budget specifically for Georgian Dream MPs and the Deputy Mayor. Additionally, we asked whether Archil Beridze and Archil Gogitidze received any honorarium for participating in the concert.
The Ministry of Culture of Adjara violated deadlines for providing public information and, even after telephone inquiries, did not supply the requested information.
Batumi City Council member Archil Gogitidze from Georgian Dream at the concert in Athens.
Why is the Ministry of Culture hiding the event’s expenses and refusing to provide this information to the public? We asked the press office of Georgian Dream Culture Minister Eliso Bolkvadze this question for the second time, but their answer remained the same: “Understood. Okay, we’ll get back to you.”
The only available document related to expenses concerns the purchase of two tables, which were presented as gifts by the delegation to the hosts in Athens.
These were two tables decorated with Georgian elements, costing a total of 140 GEL.
The Georgian Dream government, which has passed numerous repressive (Russian-style) laws targeting civil society, seemingly under the guise of “transparency,” does not feel accountable to the public and refuses to disclose the state budget expenses related to this event.