The Prosecutor General of Georgia, Giorgi Gvarakidze, stated that corruption has always existed and it is impossible to eradicate it completely.
The official noted that this does not mean there is “systemic corruption” in Georgia. According to him, systemic corruption is part of the system itself and is “handed down from the top as a rule for everyone,” while the cases investigated by his office are isolated incidents where specific individuals committed crimes on their own.
“Systemic corruption is not what we are investigating. This does not mean systemic corruption. Corruption has always been, is, and will be—we cannot completely eradicate it, it is impossible. Systemic corruption is a situation where a directive is allegedly ‘handed down’ from the leadership, dictating that everyone must participate in violations and the subversion of the system.
Based on the results of our investigations, it is clear that we are dealing with isolated and specific crimes committed by individual people. Therefore, this is not a systemic crime. Crimes have always existed, exist, and will exist.
We, the prosecutor’s office and law enforcement agencies, work in coordination and will continue to work to detect corruption and hold all those responsible accountable. This is our work and one of our priorities,” the Prosecutor General stated.
Gvarakidze emphasized that his office will continue to investigate cases of corruption, adding that no one will be able to “hide behind their position and authority” and, if there is evidence, the case will be heard in court.
The Prosecutor General stated that managers should not automatically be held responsible for the crimes of their subordinates—they can only be prosecuted if they personally participated in them or gave instructions, as the Criminal Code has no article on “collective responsibility.”
