“Corruption has always existed, exists, and will exist - we cannot eliminate it; it is an impossible issue,” said Prosecutor General Giorgi Gvarakidze during a plenary session of Parliament, responding to a question from Giorgi Sharashidze of the “Gakharia For Georgia” party: “Is there systemic corruption in the country?”

According to him, the Prosecutor’s Office has never backed down when it comes to crimes committed by officials or influential individuals, and will continue to respond accordingly, as fighting corruption is one of its priorities.

“Systemic corruption is not what we are investigating - that does not mean systemic corruption. Corruption has always existed, exists, and will exist; we cannot exhaust it, it is an impossible issue. Systemic corruption means a situation where there is an order from leadership that everyone must participate in wrongdoing. Based on the cases we have investigated and the tangible results we have achieved, it is clear that individuals committed separate, individual crimes. Therefore, this is not systemic crime. Crime exists, has existed, and will exist. The Prosecutor’s Office and law enforcement agencies are working hand in hand in coordination and will continue to work to detect corruption and punish all those involved. This is our activity and a priority direction defined by our policy.

We have never backed down from prosecuting crimes committed by officials or influential individuals, and we do not intend to. Wherever there is a crime and wherever we can obtain evidence, we will respond,” Gvarakidze said.

He also responded to Giorgi Sharashidze’s question about whether senior officials should be held accountable for subordinates convicted of corruption, including Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze.

According to Gvarakidze, the mere fact that a superior exists whose subordinates committed crimes does not justify holding that superior criminally responsible.

“To this day, the responsibility of any senior official has not been established, and I want to emphasize that the Criminal Code of Georgia does not provide for collective responsibility. Criminal liability is individual. Those against whom we have collected evidence have been prosecuted. The mere fact that a superior exists and that subordinates committed certain crimes does not mean that the superior should also be held responsible. In order to prosecute a superior, we must establish that they themselves committed a crime,” Gvarakidze said.