Press Digest 22.03.2013
Irakli Alasania - “In the Ministry of Defense there has been elite corruption over the years”
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Irakli Alasania - “In the Ministry of Defense there has been elite corruption over the years”
“The Defense Minister speaks often of budget violations in his office and stated that the material is studied by prosecutors. From former ministers of defenses only Bacho Akhalaia serves his sentence, but the charge against him does not apply to misapplication of funds. The news authorities declared as ‘wanted’ another former defense minister David Kezerashvili”, - writes the newspaper “Rezonansi”.
“Some military experts believe that the new government drags out investigations of senior officials’ crimes and other experts say the investigation is under way and it is possible that soon new charges will be revealed. Following his appointment as the Defense Minister, Alasania made several allegations of corruption; it concerns the acquisition of satellite antennas at the expense of Ministry funds, unfit weapons or bullet-proof vests. According to the Minister of Defense, his office now will report regularly to a group of trust and the parliamentary committee on procurement and disposal of finances”, - the newspaper notes.
“8 billion was spent, but there are a lot of problems. Investigators will determine whether this sum was spent properly. There exist facts of payment of large amounts for low-quality bullet-proof vests and weapons. In the Ministry of Defense there has been elite corruption over the years. Where 32.000,000 GEL disappeared will be determined by the investigation. The use of armed forces for political purposes was an unfortunate reality. We have created a special commission. It is led by Deputy Defense Minister and Deputy Head of the Joint Staff. Infrastructure was examined in 23 military units. Problems in16 categories were identified”, - said the Minister of Defense Irakli Alasania.
