Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports that a Georgian court ordered Nika Gilauri and his companies to pay $12 million as part of a private dispute.
Gilauri’s shares and property were subsequently seized, while the Enforcement Bureau put a villa/house located in Tskneti up for auction and forcibly sold it for GEL 4 million.
According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the court dispute between Nika Gilauri’s side and his former business partner, construction company Black Sea Group, had been ongoing since 2021.
The court proceedings accelerated during the period when Gilauri became politically active and began criticizing the Georgian Dream after the 2024 elections, ultimately ending with his defeat.
It should be recalled that after a 12-year hiatus, Nika Gilauri became politically active ahead of the 2024 parliamentary elections. It was reported that he funded an opposition coalition and published a development plan for the country, while after the elections he strongly criticized the authorities for violently dispersing pro-European protests. He also established a fund to assist detained activists.
In March 2025, the Prosecutor’s Office seized Gilauri’s foundation as part of the “sabotage” case, after which the former prime minister disappeared from the public sphere.
Meanwhile, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports that a civil dispute that had been stalled for years also accelerated, concerning the suspension of the construction of the Nakra HPP. In February 2025, the court ordered Gilauri and his companies to pay more than $12 million in favor of his former business partner, Black Sea Group.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports that in July 2026, in order to enforce the multimillion-dollar judgment, the state put Gilauri’s only residence in Tskneti up for a forced auction and sold it for almost GEL 4 million. It was purchased by businessman Vano Sturua, who had previously been a business partner of his brother, Irakli Gilauri.
Georgian and German lawyers have described the court’s decision as unprecedented, arbitrary and unsubstantiated. The judge grossly violated fundamental rules of corporate law and imposed personal financial liability for the obligations of an LLC directly on Nika Gilauri and another consulting company, “Reformatics,” which had no connection whatsoever to the dispute.
