Tbilisi City Court gave the Finance Ministry green light to auction former parliamentary chairperson Nino Burjanadze’s disputed mansion on August 27.

The decision comes after the same court upheld on August 18 the Finance Ministry’s claim against Burjanadze for unpaid GEL 1.25 million in tax for a mansion she received from the state.

In early May, 2008 President Saakashvili issued a decree authorizing the sale of the mansion and a 31,696 square meter plot of land to Burjanadze for only a GEL 1 in Tskneti outside Tbilisi. Burjanadze claims that amount of tax she has to pay amounts to GEL 300,000 and the authorities increased market value of the mansion, based on which the tax is calculated, only after she went into the opposition.

Burjanadze can appeal the Tbilisi City Court’s decision to higher court, but overrule is unlikely.