NGO Mediator: 37 Majority And 4 Opposition MPs Are Millionaires

TBILISI – On Monday the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), Monitoring Center Mediator, and the non-parliamentary opposition party, New Georgia, published the results of their joint survey. They found that 37 MPs of the majortiy party and 4 MPs from the opposition parties are millionaires. Additionally, 6 cabinet ministers are millionaires.

Sopo Muzashvili, a representative of Monitoring Center Mediator, says that 35 percent of Georgian Dream (GD) MPs are millionaires. Millionaire is defined as owning movable and immovable property in excess of 1 million Gel.

The top five richest GD MPs:

1. Shota Shalelashvili - 34. 907.760 Gel
2. Ioseb Makrakhidze - 13 million Gel
3. Beka Odisharia - 12.414.270 Gel
4. Levan Kobiashvili – 10 million Gel
5. Koba Narchemashvili - 7.672.000 Gel

The list of the richest ministers:

1. Energy Minister, Kakha Kaladze - 36.604.500 Gel
2. Sports Minister, Tariel Khechekashvili - 11.253.000 Gel
3. Reconciliation and Civil Equality Minister, Ketevan Tsikhelashvili - 9.748.000 Gel
4. Minister of Economy, Giorgi Gakharia - 5.019.000 Gel
5. Infrastructure Minister, Zurab Alavidze - 2.442.000 Gel
6. Finance Minister, Dimitry Kumsishvili - 1.965.000 Gel

Millionaire MPs among the Opposition Parties:

1. Nato Chkheidze, Alliance of Patriots of Georgia (APG) - 51.039.798 gel
2. Koba Nakopia, United National Movement - 8.033.500 Gel
3. Sergo Ratiani, European Georgia - 1.560.900 Gel
4. Akaki Bobokhidze, European Georgia - 1.219.450 Gel

Majority member, Gia Volsky, says having many millionaires is good for the country. He says, “If these people have declared their millions on their taxes, I don’t see anything bad about their being millionaires."

In total, Georgia's Parliament consists of 150 lawmakers, 115 of them are GD MPs.

 By Thea Morrison