Land Fraud in Bakuriani
According to reliable sources, cases of machinations involving the ownership of land have occurred and continue to occur in Bakuriani. It is not completely uncommon that an unsuspecting owner of a plot of land comes to visit his possessions, finding only that someone has started to build a hotel or mansion on it. Then, this owner finds out that his piece of land, or part of it, has been sold for a second time by the relevant municipality organ. The latter then promises to compensate the victim of this ‘mess-up’ and, if the person is lucky, provides another plot, though obviously in a less ‘prestigious’ location.
Another practice is to double-sell land while the first buyer is still waiting for the ownership-establishing documents to be prepared.
As Bakuriani is striving to recover its name as quality tourist location, such devices are used to reserve the strategic spots for this expanding industry or just to attract wealthy citizens by providing them with a fair location for their private buildings.
Nikolai Pushkarev