Head of the Adjara Autonomous Republic’s Revenue Service, Giorgi Emiridze, who was appointed on the post by the new government, was arrested on January 29 on bribe-taking charges.

Emiridze was appointed on the post by Finance Minister Nodar Khaduri in mid-November, 2012. This is the first case of arrest of a senior official from the new government.

The Interior Ministry accuses Emiridze of taking GEL 15,000 in bribe “from founders” of Batumi-based company Black Sea Pilot Service in exchange for favorable tax treatment.

The company has eight co-owners; one of them is Aslan Smirba who was Batumi mayor a decade ago; he holds 30% shares of Black Sea Pilot Service.