The Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Gharibashvili, opened the new five-star Hilton hotel in Batumi and stated: "Objectivity demands pointing out that this project was stopped for years. It should have started in 2008 but was at a standstill for four years afterwards. Active construction work began after the new government assumed office as some problems needed to be resolved."
FactChecktook interest in the accuracy of this statement.
Turinvest Ltd was in charge of the construction of the Hilton hotel in Batumi. We contacted Turinvest Ltd in order to find out whether or not the construction faced delays. The company’s representative we reached refused to comment upon the issue. Thereafter, we addressed the Prime Minister’s Press Office. FactChecktook interest in what the Prime Minister had in mind when talking about the problems he named as the main reasons for the delay in the construction of the hotel and upon what source his statement was based. The Press Office addressed the Prime Minister himself about the issue. According to Mr Gharibashvili, he made his statement with information provided by the Minister of Finance and Economy of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara, Davit Baladze. We contacted Minister Baladze in order to obtain further information about this issue.
According to Davit Baladze’s Press Office, Turinvest Ltd received the first permit for constructing the Hilton hotel on 18 June 2008 which is further confirmed by the 5 June 2010 protocol on the finalisation of the construction work. The construction permit was extended on 28 May 2010 and the new expiration date was set at 23 September 2013. The permit was extended once again on 16 December 2013 with the expiration date moved to 20 December 2014. As the information we received shows, the construction went on for seven years.
The protocols on the finalisation of the construction enable us to find out how the building work on the Hilton hotel was proceeding year by year. The protocols show that the laying of the foundation for the hotel was finished on 6 July 2011. Pirosmani Ltd was in charge of this work.
According to the information of the Minister of Finance and Economy of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara, the construction work was, in fact, halted from 6 July 2011 to October 2012 (almost 15 months) which is further confirmed by the agreement (1 October 2012) signed with a new construction company (Anagi Ltd). According to this agreement, Anagi Ltd was tasked with the construction and the time period of the work was set at 16 months.
We requested information about the Hilton hotel from Batumi City Hall as well. It should be pointed out that the facts in the response letter do not match with the above dates. According to the aforementioned information, the construction permit for the Hilton hotel (residential and hotel complex) was issued for Turinvest Ltd twice (22 June 2009 and 16 December 2013). According to the 2 December 2014 Directive, the period of construction was extended to 20 May 2015. Due to the factual differences between the two sources cited above, we looked into the dates of the issuing of the construction permits for the Hilton hotel. According to the information from Batumi City Hall, the permit issued to Turinvest Ltd in 2008 was for the deconstruction, and not the construction, of the building.
FactChecktook interest in whether or not Turinvest Ltd was involved in any legal violation which could have resulted in the termination of the construction work. According to the information of the Batumi City Hall Monitoring Service, the construction of the residential and hotel complex was implemented in violation of the conditions of the construction permit; specifically, the construction of an additional floor without permission.
On 30 September 2013, due to the aforementioned building violation, the Batumi City Hall Monitoring Service issued a notice to Turinvest Ltd and commenced proceedings against the company for architectural construction violation. According to the notice, Turinvest Ltd was given seven days to stop the construction process or present appropriate documentation. When no recourse was taken concerning the violation, Directive No. 224 was issued on 15 October 2013 thereby fining Turinvest Ltd, stopping the construction process and bringing the building in line with the construction documentation. The case was sent to the Ajara Enforcement Bureau. Later, the Batumi City Hall Monitoring Service fined the construction company.
On 16 December 2013, Turinvest Ltd presented the permit concerning the changes in the project and was issued a new construction permit, signed by the Chairman of Batumi City Council, as well as presenting the construction permit certificate and the receipts proving that the fines were paid. Upon the basis of the aforementioned, the proceedings against Turinvest Ltd for architectural construction violation were stopped.
Conclusion
According to the information of the Minister of Finance and Economy of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara, the construction permit for the Hilton hotel was issued three times (the first permit in 2008 whilst the expiration date of the third one was set at 20 December 2014). Of note is that the laying of the foundation for the Hilton hotel was finished on 6 July 2011. Anagi Ltd took over the construction in October 2012 and was tasked with finishing the work in 16 months. According to the information on the official website of Anagi Ltd, the company was working on the Hilton hotel from October 2012 to February 2015.
According to the information of Batumi City Hall, a construction permit was issued to Turinvest Ltd twice: on 22 June 2009 and 16 December 2013 whilst according to the 2 December 2014 Directive, the expiration date of the permit was postponed to 20 May 2015. It is important to note that the state; namely, the Batumi City Hall Monitoring Service, halted the construction only once, in 2013. According to the information of Batumi City Hall, the 2008 permit was issued for the deconstruction of the building and not for beginning its construction.
Despite the differences between the information provided by various state structures, the aforementioned documentation enables us to say that the construction of the Hilton hotel took place from 2008 to 2015. In this period, the hotel’s foundation was laid from 2008 to 2011. The construction of the whole hotel started from October 2012 and finished in 29 months.
It should also be noted that according to the information obtained by us, the fact of halting the construction work for a period of four years has not been confirmed. Despite the fact that we have the hotel’s construction documentation, it remains obscure as to why the construction process took eight years – was it due to the company’s financial problems or delays created by the state?
Despite numerous attempts, FactCheck failed to find the actual reasons for halting or postponing the construction process. Hence, we refrain from giving a verdict. In addition, we express our readiness to receive and document any kind of information from our readers which would help us finalise the study.
