Mikheil Kareli, governor of the Shida Kartli region, was one of the officials that Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili had placed his trust and asked to help in the fight against smuggling and to promote law and order in this transitional border region with the breakaway region of South Ossetia. This region functioned for years as a giant non-man’s land between Russia and Georgia, and as a haven for smugglers. Many attempts have been made in previous years to root out smuggling, but steps in this direction were not forthcoming. The interchange continued, with help from corrupt authorities who grew fat from the black business of the main South Ossetian market. Only with a change in government was any real effort made to put an end to the supply base for smugglers.
Mikheil Kareli, one of the “destroyers” of the Ergneti “smugglers’ market,” where the black market trade in fuel, tobacco products and food ran rampant, said tackling the problem was possible only through the coordinated joint efforts of different Georgian governmental agencies but there is more work to be done.
Mr. Kareli spoke to 24 Saati (Hours).
Q. The Ergneti market is shut down but the topic of smuggling in Shida Kartli is still on the agenda…
A. Shutting down Ergneti was my personal initiative. With this, South Ossetian separatists lost considerable revenues, and most of their profits was used to buy weapons. Experts say that annual turnout of the Ergneti market was 120 million USD. It is estimated that 80 percent of the market, which also included that part of the territory that was under Georgian jurisdiction, was controlled by Ossetian separatists. And representatives of our law enforcement agencies, and different state bodies, were also caught up in this business. Law enforcers showed their disloyalty to the state a number of times. I was threatened multiple times and even shot at while shutting down the market. My vehicle still has bullet holes but I was not deterred in my work. There had been a considerable amount of pressure applied from organized crime at the start of operations in closing down the Ergneti market, which was between the period of May 25 and June 11 of last year.
Q. And despite this, smuggling still flows…
A. If I say that smuggling was curbed 100%, it would be a lie, but we certainly managed to reduce by 90%. After we closed good coming in from the Kekhvi direction, the routes of smuggling changed. From the Roki tunnel, smuggled goods reach Tskhinvali by side roads under the control of Ossetians. A high number of such roads in the mountains are difficult for us to keep an eye on. Yes, there are problems but I don’t want to draw picture that there has not been improvement. We need to involve loyal people in the fight against smuggling. And together, with the support of the central government, if we will attack the remaining 10% in an organized way, then we will be able to reduce the majority of the most smuggling activity that still remains.
Q. Well-organized gangs were in charge of smuggling. Some of them no longer exist. Do remnants of those “groupings” now manage the 10 percent, or did new people substitute them?
A. No, according to information I have, this is not the case. Smuggling now operates in a fragmented chaotic manner and is carried out by individuals. And now most of the illegal trade is tobacco – 100, 200 packs on average are brought, then accumulated and sold. However, there still are influential people who support smuggling. Many of these “supporters” work in police, which includes the Financial Police and special forces as well. The head of the local Financial Police was changed three times within a year on my personal request. Moreover, 250 officers were fired from the police on my order. We also fired a considerable part of those belonging to special units. The fight was not only against smuggling, but also against a large number of officials working in the police and Financial Police. It was necessary, together with a small group of exceptionally loyal people, to personally inspect checkpoints. There are a huge number of things that still needs to be done in the region in this direction. Many things were completed since last August but it is still not enough. We want Shida Kartli to become one of the best Georgian regions.
Q. Your name was mentioned in relation to smuggling a number of times…
A. No person alive on earth can say that he or she made deals with Mikheil Kareli involving smuggling. I will never betray the country and the Georgian people. Nor I will betray the people I work with every day, Minister Irakli Okruashvili, and President Mikhail Saakashvili, who entrusted this region to me. It is understood in the region that Mikheil Kareli is not subject to any pressures. They say if I am right then let me go to court to prove my claim. I will not do this since I know this will become a show. Nevertheless, I would certainly appear correct before the court. Nobody would be able to present any facts that would be against me. And then they will say that I had somehow pressured the court. If indeed I would involve myself in such intrigues then how would it have been possible to accomplish so many things as I did in the region? Furthermore, I never made any comments in answering such stupid remarks. I am fully aware that all such comments are coming from large-scale smugglers who feel desperate. They are now backed into a corner and they are not alone. There are certain people in government who support petty smugglers and they too don’t want to see me in this position for obvious reasons.
I was a farmer before taking this job; I also worked in a mill, and I don’t have a problem of going back to what I did before. I can come up with a plan how to fight what is left of these smuggling operations. If this plan is carried out jointly, then I can only greet it openly. However, in any other case, then I will go my separate way, and tell all what I think about the situation as I leave; I am not afraid of anybody and I have nothing to lose.
