14 October 2022

...Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Darakhvelidze made a special statement in connection with the tragedy. The investigation is under article 240 of the criminal code, which outlines violations of safety standards that lead to the death of people. The crime is punishable by imprisonment for four to seven years.

The main contractor is Greenservice LLC. Its founder, Lasha Purtsvanidze, like other employees of the company, is being interrogated by the police. The day before, Purtsvanidze told reporters that he was personally responsible for the proper functioning of the fountain...

Greenservice+ LLC carried out work in the park under a contract with the mayor’s office and managed to receive 6,324,286.07 GEL from the state budget, which is 49% of the total cost. And as it turns out, independent investigators have long had questions about this company and its founders...

In 2018, the NGO Transparency International (Georgia) called on the authorities to create a “black list” of companies and individuals found to be corrupt and fraudulent in order to prevent them from participating in government projects...

In its report, the organization cites three examples where individuals who were tried in Georgia for serious violations in public procurement again participated in and won public projects. Greenservice is one of those three cases...