On air on the Georgian Public Broadcaster, the Mayor of Tbilisi, Davit Narmania, elaborated upon the situation at Tbilisi City Hall. According to Mr Narmania, the rumours about his service automobile costing GEL 100,000 are not true. "Lately, our opponents have managed to fill the media with disinformation. Of course, they are trying to mislead the public. They talked about Aleksandre Margishvili and corruption leading back to him. I can state with full responsibility that he has nothing to do with corruption. They also say that the mayor of Tbilisi uses a GEL 100,000 car, also stating that he was unable to buy this car through City Hall and made the Special State Protection Service (SSPS) buy it for him. I use a car which was manufactured in 2009 and which did, indeed, belong to the SSPS. However, this car was bought for Sandra Roelofs’ parents, by the way," stated Mr Narmania.

available in Georgian only).

 received from the Special State Protection Service, the Toyota Land Cruiser, with a total value of GEL 99,572, manufactured in 2011 and bought in June 2011, provides transportation for the Mayor of Tbilisi, Davit Narmania. The aforementioned car was on the balance of the Principal Division of the President’s Security from 2011 and the Security Service of the President was using it. The information provided by the Special State Protection Service does not confirm that the car was bought personally for Sandra Roelofs’ parents.

For additional information on the topic we contacted the Public Relations Department of the Mayor’s Office. According to the statement we received: "Sandra Roelofs’ parents used the car only when visiting Georgia."

According to the information received from Tbilisi City Hall, Davit Narmania also used a Kia Cadenza (number plate – NXN 171, manufactured in 2011 with a total value of GEL 54,250) which was on the balance of Tbilisi City Hall. However, according to the Public Relations Department of Tbilisi City Hall, the aforementioned automobile is out of service at the moment and the Mayor uses the Toyota Land Cruiser provided by the Special State Protection Service.

The Kia Cadenza was previously used by the Acting Mayor of Tbilisi, Sevdia Ugrekhelidze, and the Mayor of Tbilisi, Gigi Ugulava. In addition, the former Mayor of Tbilisi also used the following cars: an Audi A8 (manufactured in 2006 with a total value of GEL 152,844.11) and a Toyota Prado (manufactured in 2008 with a total value of GEL 69,802).

The Mayor of Tbilisi, Davit Narmania, has not purchased a new service automobile since assuming office. The Toyota Land Cruiser, used by him, was indeed on the balance of the Special State Protection Service; however, the official response letter received from the Service does not confirm that this car was purchased for Sandra Roelofs’ parents. According to the Public Relations Service of the Mayor’s Office, it is possible that Ms Roelofs’ parents used the car only when visiting Georgia; however, they do not possess a document confirming this fact.

Hence, the Mayor of Tbilisi is right when saying that he has not purchased a new car; however, the second part of his statement does not check out. In addition, it is unclear why Mr Narmania underscored that the aforementioned automobile was bought for Sandra Roelofs’ parents when stating this was completely useless to him in answering the question or in the general discourse.