Seven governors spent a total of 132,208 liters of fuel in 2017-2018, according to the IDFI analysis on Regional Governor State Vehicles and Fuel Expenses: 2017-2018.

The organization says that in 2017-2018, “7 governors drove 750 thousand kilometers in total, averaging at 52.5 thousand kilometers in 2017, and 54.7 in 2018. The distance driven by each governor in 2017-2018 is on average equal to twice the circumference of Earth.”

According to the IDFI, nine regional governor administrations own a total of 78 vehicles, of which 49% are high-performance, and 46% are assigned to specific official or employee.

All regional governors use Toyota Land Cruisers, most of which were gifted to governor administrations free of charge. 73% of vehicles owned by governor administrations were not purchased with their budgets and they were transferred free of charge from other public institutions. The document says that “on August 21, 2015, Deputy Governor of Kvemo Kartli region appealed to Rustavi Mayor to transfer a vehicle that was purchased for GEL 71,373 on the same day from the municipal budget to the governor administration.”

The analysis shows that in 2017-2018, the monthly fuel limits of governor administrations varied from 700 to 1,500 liters. The document says that there is strong evidence to suggest that in 208 Guria governor administration exceeded its fuel consumption limit.

“In 2017-2018, vehicles assigned to governors drove an average of 150 kilometers per day including weekends, and 215 kilometers per working day excluding weekends. In 2017-2018, the average fuel consumption per 100 kilometers of vehicles assigned to governors ranged from 15 to 19.83 liters,” the document reads.