Former Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has been charged with a new offence — bribe-taking (a) by a public political official (b) in large quantities (c) with a group of persons with preliminary agreement.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, former Defence Minister Juansher Burchuladze cooperated with the investigation into his case.
The article of the Criminal Code under which Garibashvili has been charged carries a prison sentence of 11 to 15 years.
The case concerns a Defence Ministry public procurement deal involving medical equipment for a military hospital. Juansher Burchuladze and other senior officials have already been detained/convicted in connection with the case. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, Garibashvili received GEL 750,000 as a bribe in connection with the deal. The money was allegedly handed to him directly by Juansher Burchuladze.
This comes after a week in which Irakli Garibashvili broke his silence from prison, accusing a particular group within the ruling party of conspiring against him and claiming that he was blackmailed into admitting to new corruption charges in an effort to eliminate “even a 1% chance” of his return to politics.
The Prosecutor’s Office statement is reproduced in full below:
“The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia has charged former Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili with accepting a particularly large bribe by a group acting pursuant to a prior agreement.
On August 12, 2026, convicted Vasili Mkheidze, a relative of former Defence Minister Juansher Burchuladze, approached the Prosecutor’s Office expressing his willingness to cooperate with the investigation and provided investigators with all the information in his possession. Juansher Burchuladze was also questioned and cooperated with the investigation.
As a result of investigative and procedural measures carried out by the State Security Service, it was established that between 2021 and 2024, while serving as Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Garibashvili was a holder of a state political office and, in accordance with the law, was responsible, among other functions, for determining the main directions of government policy, organising the activities of the government, and coordinating and overseeing the work of ministers.
During the same period, Juansher Burchuladze served as Minister of Defence of Georgia and likewise held a state political office. Under the law, as minister, he was accountable to the Prime Minister of Georgia and, among other duties and responsibilities, coordinated the activities of the ministry’s structural units and exercised official supervision over the decisions and activities of relevant ministry officials.
From the end of 2022, the Ministry of Defence of Georgia identified a need to purchase various expensive medical equipment and supplies, which was to be carried out through a classified procurement process. In order to participate in these procedures and obtain illicit financial gain, Vasili Mkheidze, in agreement with Juansher Burchuladze, contacted a businessman known to him with relevant experience and proposed that the procurement be structured in such a way as to guarantee that companies affiliated with the businessman would win the contracts at the desired price. In return, he demanded that 10 percent of the total contractual value be paid to him in cash.
After the person associated with Vasili Mkheidze initially refrained from entering into the criminal agreement and demanded additional guarantees from senior officials, the then Minister of Defence, Juansher Burchuladze, in his capacity as an accountable official, reached an agreement with then Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili that procurements for the needs of the Ministry of Defence would be conducted in a manner ensuring that companies affiliated with the aforementioned businessman would win the contracts at the desired price, in exchange for which they would receive substantial illicit financial benefits.
Having received full official protection from Irakli Garibashvili, who in turn demanded that the corresponding material benefit be transferred to him and confirmed the reliability of the selected businessman in such matters, Juansher Burchuladze instructed then Deputy Minister of Defence Giorgi Khaindrava and then Head of the Procurement Department Vladimir Gudadushauri to take targeted actions during the process of purchasing various medical equipment and supplies for the Georgian Defence Ministry’s Giorgi Abramishvili Military Hospital. These actions created an uncompetitive environment, resulting in the artificial inflation of the cost of goods and services to be purchased under the classified procurement contracts through the conclusion of fictitious transactions.
As a result, in three classified procurement procedures, companies associated with the aforementioned individuals supplied the Ministry of Defence with medical equipment and other supplies with an actual value of GEL 11,499,705 for GEL 18,484,960.
In parallel with the above-mentioned procurements, and in exchange for the relevant guarantees and protection, the businessmen involved in the procurements transferred approximately 10 percent of the total contractual value to Vasili Mkheidze in cash, in several instalments — GEL 1.9 million. Of this amount, he retained GEL 400,000 as personal gain, while transferring the remaining amount in full to Juansher Burchuladze.
Of the GEL 1.5 million received by the latter as a bribe, he retained GEL 750,000 himself, while the other half — GEL 750,000 — was handed in cash, in several instalments and also as a bribe, to Irakli Garibashvili.
As a result of the above-mentioned actions, the state suffered substantial material damage amounting to GEL 6,985,255, and the public interest was seriously harmed.
The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia has charged Irakli Garibashvili under Article 338, Part 2, subparagraphs ‘a’ and ‘c’, and Part 3, subparagraph ‘e’, of the Criminal Code of Georgia. The charges concern the acceptance by a holder of a state political office, acting as part of a group, of a particularly large bribe, and carry a sentence of 11 to 15 years’ imprisonment.
As for the other officials involved in the case, we remind the public that they have already been convicted by the court in connection with the aforementioned facts and have been sentenced accordingly. Among them, Juansher Burchuladze has been sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment.
In the case against Irakli Garibashvili, the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia will apply to the court only to request that a preliminary hearing be scheduled, as he is already serving a sentence imposed following a conviction in another criminal case,” the Prosecutor’s Office said.
