The purchase had to be secret, and [Vasil Mkheidze, the brother-in-law of Juansher Burchuladze] had to deliver 10% of the full purchase value to the Defense Minister, Juansher Burchuladze, – this was stated by businessman and founder of “Kia Group” Zurab Tukvadze during questioning in court.

He is one of the main witnesses in the case. Zurab Tukvadze is located in the United States and is giving testimony to the court remotely.

As he noted, he does not know Juansher Burchuladze personally and only had contact with his wife’s brother, Vasil Mkheidze.

Tukvadze spoke about the tenders in which he participated.

“In 2022, at his initiative, Vaso Mkheidze came to me and proposed that I participate in a tender of the Ministry of Defense related to medical equipment.

Since I owned several large companies, I asked him to provide me with guarantees from official persons that this purchase would actually take place. He returned in a week and told me that he had spoken to his brother-in-law, the then-Defense Minister, and said that this purchase was also agreed upon with the then-Prime Minister. This purchase had to be secret, and 10% of the full value of the purchase had to be delivered to the Defense Minister, Juansher Burchuladze. He also mentioned in passing that the Prime Minister had jokingly said that my ex-wife was the Prime Minister’s distant relative, said that I was not a good son-in-law, but in the business part the purchase could be carried out. I became convinced that this [purchase] was credible. 2–3 months later, the head of procurement from the Ministry of Defense, Vladimir Ghudushauri, contacted me and we met. During the conversation, he told me that he planned to purchase medical equipment for the Gori hospital. I left him the details of my company and my friend’s company, and after some time I sent him a market research related to the purchase of medical equipment. The contract amounted to approximately 5 million, which involved the purchase of medical inventory and equipment. About 3–4 months later, Vaso Mkheidze came, and in accordance with the agreement, I gave him 10% of the contract value. He told me that the Ministry of Defense would have more purchases of medical equipment, and we continued working under the same agreement. I went to my friends and asked for help,” – stated Tukvadze.

His testimony was interrupted at this point by Juansher Burchuladze’s lawyer, Mariam Shatirishvili.

“The person is being questioned, he has notes in front of him and is reading, he hasn’t looked at the camera even once,” – stated the lawyer, to which the judge instructed the witness to look toward the camera.

At this moment, the prosecution side is still questioning Tukvadze.

The prosecutor asked him how he would explain the different information provided in several of his testimonies.

“Why should I have told Vaso [Mkheidze] such things when no questions were asked about them? But at a later stage, when I analyzed that others – businessmen, my friends – had been harmed, I decided to come forward voluntarily, tell the truth to the investigation, and clarify my testimony,” – stated Tukvadze.

For information: Former Defense Minister Juansher Burchuladze has been charged under subparagraph “g” of Part 3 of Article 194 and Part 2 of Article 332 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which involve abuse of official authority and legalization of illegal income. The said act provides for imprisonment from 9 to 12 years as a form and measure of punishment.

In total, Juansher Burchuladze is accused of legalizing 1,593,212 GEL in illegal and unsubstantiated income. According to the charges, in 2023, with the assistance of his deputy, relative, and the former head of the Procurement Department of the Ministry of Defense of Georgia, Juansher Burchuladze supplied a medical device to the military hospital for 3,940,000 GEL instead of 2,606,272 GEL, resulting in property damage of 1,333,728 GEL to the ministry.

Additionally, in March 2025, Juansher Burchuladze and his wife purchased property in Spain for 544,000 euros. In order to conceal and disguise the origin of this property and give it a legal appearance, they concluded a fictitious sale agreement for real estate located in Daba Tskneti with a third party.

As for Vladimir Ghudushauri and Giorgi Khaidrava, they are accused of large-scale embezzlement; Vasil Mkheidze is accused of aiding in embezzlement.

They have been charged under subparagraphs “a” and “d” of Part 2 and subparagraph “b” of Part 3 of Article 182 of the Criminal Code of Georgia for large-scale embezzlement of property belonging to the Ministry of Defense of Georgia committed by a group through prior agreement and with the use of official position, as well as aiding in embezzlement, which provides for imprisonment from 7 to 11 years as a form and measure of punishment.

Vladimir Ghudushauri has been released on bail.