The Stalin Museum in Gori will spend 109.5 thousand GEL (about 39 thousand dollars) to restore the house where the Soviet dictator was born. The State Procurement Agency has announced a tender, UNN reports, citing the Mtavari TV channel.
According to media reports, this house is the main exhibit of the museum. This is where the future "leader of nations" spent the first years of his life, when he, of course, had not yet made plans for mass repression. Nevertheless, the building remains a valuable artifact of studying the history of the Stalin family, the origin of which is still subject to hypotheses and controversy.
Under the terms of the tender, the contractor is to renovate the roof, floor, electrical wiring, doors, windows, and memorial plaques. The work is to be completed within 11 days after the contract is signed.
The media notes that the Stalin Museum in Gori offers a unique but controversial view of the Soviet leader. The exposition covers his journey from birth to death, but is often criticized for embellishing the image of the dictator and silencing the regime's crimes. In Georgia, there is an ongoing debate about how the museum should present history and how it affects visitors' perceptions of Stalin.
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Today, there are few of his admirers left in Georgia, mostly among the far right, who participate in anti-Western rallies, burn EU flags and demand rapprochement with Russia. Even 10-15 years ago, there were significantly more Stalinists - elderly supporters of the dictator gathered annually in Gori to praise his role in the industrialization of the USSR and the victory in World War II.
But in Stalin's hometown, attitudes toward him remain ambiguous. Busts and monuments erected by local communists after 2010 were regularly defaced by activists who painted them in bright colors.
According to the Caucasus Barometer 2024 study, almost 50% of the Georgian population has a negative attitude toward Stalin.