In his April 29 speech [1] at the pro-government rally in Tbilisi, the real ruler of Georgia, Oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili declared the West an adversary and announced a change in the country's Euro-Atlantic course. This decision was made against the requirements of Georgia's Constitution, the foreign policy course recognized since independence, the will of the absolute majority of the population, and the unanimous advice of Western partners — and only with the approval of Russian high officials.

At his address, to which thousands of civil servants had been bussed in from across the country, he also announced repressions against the country’s pro-western actors, in effect enacting the Russian-style foreign agents law before its formal approval. 

With this decision, Bidzina Ivanishvili dispelled all doubts about Georgia's halted integration into Euro-Atlantic structures and openly began constructing Russian-style authoritarianism in Georgia, which undoubtedly turns the country into a subordinate, vassal state of Russia.

Who is Bidzina Ivanishvili?

Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder and currently ‘honorary chairman’ of Georgia’s ruling party Georgian Dream, is an unelected and unaccountable billionaire-oligarch [2] exercising effective control over the Georgian state. His official wealth of 5 bln [3] USD, most of which was made in 90s Russia, is equivalent to up to 20% of the Georgian GDP, making him by far the richest person in the country. Ivanishvili, a dual citizen of Georgia and France, leads a secluded life and rarely makes public appearances or statements.

In 2012, Ivanishvili used his vast resources to unite the opposition and defeat the United National Movement government in landmark elections. Since then, the coalition of parties fell apart, with some key members being pushed out using fabricated court cases [4], and the Georgian Dream, under Ivanishvili’s informal rule, has managed to gradually capture [5] all branches of power and independent institutions in the country. Apart from serving as Prime Minister for a short period in 2012-2013, Ivanishvili has held no public office and has not personally run for office ever since. In 2015 and again in 2020, Ivanishvili announced his decision to leave politics for good; however, both times he came back to assume formal leadership of the Georgian Dream. 

While it has been common knowledge in the Georgian public over the past 12 years that Ivanishvili had never given up political control, his second return [6] to politics in December 2023 conclusively dispelled all previous doubts. More specifically, he appointed himself as ‘honorary chair [7]’ of the party, gave himself the right to nominate the Prime Minister (by amending the party charter) and exercised this authority immediately to change the Prime Minister in early 2024.

Control is maintained by placing [8] close associates, such as personal bodyguards (Minister of Internal Affairs - Vakhtang Gomelauri), former CEOs of his companies (Head of the State Security Service - Grigol Liluashvili, Minister of Infrastructure - Irakli Karseladze, former Prime Ministers - Irakli Gharibashvili, Giorgi Kvirikashvili), personal assistants (previous Prime Minister), personal lawyers (former Chief Prosecutor - Shalva Tadumadze), family doctors (former Minister of Healthcare - Ekaterine Tikaradze), in charge of state institutions [9], with law enforcement and security services being the key [5].

This arrangement allows Ivanishvili to have near absolute power without any formal accountability. The specific benefit he receives is guaranteed physical and financial security for himself and his family. 

The following are several incidents to illustrate how the above arrangement works in practice:

The Chief Prosecutor is my friend – In a 2018 interview, Bidzina Ivanishvili confirmed holding closed meetings [10] between two prominent businessmen in his personal residence for the purpose of settling a business dispute. According to one of the participants, Ivanishvili had the Chief Prosecutor Irakli Shotadze attend [11] one of these meetings for the purpose of intimidation. Shotadze, who headed the Prosecution Office until May 23, 2024 amid his unexpected resignation, later confirmed [12] having attended the meeting.

Saving Ivanishvili’s private assets – Over the years, the highest level public and party officials have gone out of their way to protect Bidzina Ivanishvili’s reputation and assets. As an example, in 2022, during Ivanishvili’s international dispute [13] with Credit Suisse, party chair Irakli Kobakhidze alluded to a ‘coordinated effort’ to push Ivanishvili to enter the war with Russia. At the time, Ivanishvili had formally left politics and formally only had the status of a private businessman.

Grandmaster of politics – On July 18, 2022, then Prime Minister Gharibashvili sent a letter [14] to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in which he stated that the Commission's June 9 Resolution [15] was “not based on any evidence and is aimed at discrediting the current system of governance in Georgia”. The resolution referred to Bidzina Ivanishvili, who had formally left politics at the time, as an oligarch and recommended imposing sanctions against him. Gharibashvili urged [16] the Commission “to clearly distance itself from the personification of an entry on de-oligarchization”.

As an attachment to the letter, Gharibashvili sent another letter [17] published by him on social media, where he, on the one hand, denied Bidzina Ivanishvili's involvement in the decision-making process, however, on the other hand, repeatedly referred to the "rules of the game left behind" by him. In this letter PM Gharibashvili literally described Ivanishvili as a “grandmaster of politics”, who "neither makes moves nor gives opponents a chance to make moves against the country".

Not an oligarch – When in 2022 the European Commission requested deoligarchization as one of the prerequisites for Georgia’s further integration with the EU, the ruling party initiated legislation that would identify specific oligarchs in the country, but made sure to clarify very vocally that Ivanishvili would not fall [18] under the definition of oligarch. The initiative was eventually scrapped as per the Venice Commission recommendation [19]. 

Repressions in culture and arts – Even spheres such as culture are not free from Ivanishvili’s political influence. As an example, in 2022, screenings were canceled [20] of an internationally acclaimed documentary film by a Georgian filmmaker about Ivanishvili’s pet project of uprooting centuries old trees and planting them in his private garden.

Offshore Empire and Assets

Bidzina Ivanishvili holds his assets through a complex web of offshore companies and trusts spanning multiple jurisdictions. TI Georgia has identified more than 20 offshore [21] companies controlled by the Ivanishvili family. In Georgia alone, these offshore companies own a large amount of real estate and more than 125 locally registered companies that operate in various sectors of the economy, from banking to pheasant farming. Ivanishvili has invested heavily in crypto mining as well.

The Ivanishvili family’s prominent assets outside Georgia include luxury real estates in New York [22] and Paris [23]. According to journalistic investigations, Ivanishvili owns two properties in Paris: a sizable estate with a building and forest at 29 Rue de la Princesse, and an apartment on Boulevard Saint-Germain, registered under his son Uta Ivanishvili's name. In addition, Ivanishvili possesses a palace in NYC located at 2 Dover Str. Brooklyn, spanning 1100 sq.m. and estimated to be worth USD 8.3 million. 

In April 2024, the Georgian Parliament adopted amendments [24] to the Georgian Tax Code that exempted the transfer of offshore held assets to Georgia from local taxes. We believe that these amendments are tailored to Bidzina Ivanishvili’s plans, possibly in anticipation of sanctions. In addition, these changes are going to increase the risk of the inflow of capital of criminal and Russian origin into Georgia.

A Private Investment Fund – The most lucrative business projects are concentrated under the Georgian Co-Investment Fund, Ivanishvili’s personal investment fund, registered in Luxembourg and operating 25 projects in Georgia, such as shopping malls, cement factories, hotels, etc. 

Pet Projects – Many of Ivanishvili’s business projects [25] have been implemented with violations of various kinds, such as: Panorama Tbilisi (tailor made laws and violation of building and privatization regulations), Shekvetili Dendrological Park (uncontrolled environmental damage), Heidelberg Cement [26] Factory (uncontrolled environmental damage), Pheasant Farm [27] (violation of building regulations). These and other projects are a good illustration of how, if need be, any procedure, regulation or law at any level of government is completely ignored and adapted to meet the personal interests and wishes of one person. On the one hand, these projects are then used by the ruling party during their election campaigns [28], and, on the other hand, the ruling party engages in free advertising [29] for Ivanishvili's business projects.

The story of Abastumani [30] is the best illustration of the extent to which state institutions bend to Ivanishvili’s whim to make his pet projects a reality. In August 2018, after vacationing in a mountainous resort town of Abastumani, Ivanishvili decided to build a house there and announced the resort town as his latest pet project. It took only two weeks for relevant public institutions to rearrange their priorities and start redirecting considerable state funds to the area. Between August 2018 and December 2022, six public agencies invested a substantial sum of GEL 249,920,551 (app. USD 95 mln) into the development of Abastumani. This expenditure marks a nearly 14-fold increase when compared to the period from 2012 to 2018. Notably, a significant portion of the allocated funds, amounting to 83.1% of the total, was received by the companies associated with Ivanishvili and the Georgian Dream party donors. They donated GEL 1,276,000 (app. USD 500,000) back to the ruling party.

A Private Charity – Ivanishvili also has his own charity fund (International Charity Foundation Cartu), which has been violating the law by not publishing its financial reports for the past 4 years. The relevant public institution has also refused to disclose this information. The latest available financial reports from 2018 and 2019 revealed that the foundation is funded entirely by Ivanishvili’s offshore companies. 

Days after announcing his second hiatus from politics in 2020, Ivanishvili transferred most of his Georgian real estate assets together with several for-profit companies to Cartu [31]. The move was presented as charity, however, the Ivanishvili family is the only ultimate beneficial owner in control of the foundation, meaning that the assets can be returned at any time. 

Alarmingly, in 2018, Cartu Foundation was used for mass scale vote-buying. After the first round of the presidential election in 2018, the Cartu Foundation promised to write-off debts for 600,000 citizens (Georgia’s population is 3.7 mln). This was a blatant instance of vote-buying [32] and misuse of administrative resources since the Georgian Government was actively involved in the implementation process. No investigation has been conducted to address this issue.

Connections with Russia

Bidzina Ivanshvili is a member of the original group of oligarchs, i.e. several dozen persons who managed to get hold of Soviet era state assets through privatization in 90s Russia. Until 2003, Ivanishvili lived and held assets worth several billion in Russia. His business dealings intertwined with many prominent Russian oligarchs of that time, many of whom are currently sanctioned. 

Two sons of Bidzina Ivanishvili, Uta and Bera Ivanishvili hold Russian citizenship. His daughter Gvantsa Ivanishvili studied at Duke University and currently lives in the United States as Vivian Ivanishvili [33]. 

Ivanishvili’s close connections with Russia are well illustrated by the following: 

Old friendships maintained – According to secret recordings [34] released after Russia attacked Ukraine, Ivanishvili, who had made his second formal exit [35] from politics by that time, was allegedly offered a business deal by a sanctioned Russian oligarch Vladimir Yevtushenkov, owner of a company called Sistema which manufactures drones for the Russian army. The phone conversation revealed Ivanishvili and Yevtushenkov being on familial terms. Ivanishvili had arranged a meeting between Yevtushenkov’s representative and Prime Minister Garibashvili. While Yevtushenkov himself confirmed [36] the meeting, Garibashvili denied [37] having one. No investigation was carried out despite civil society calls [38] to do so.

A promise broken – Upon entering politics in 2011, Ivanishvili stated that he would sell all of his Russian-owned businesses and assets to avoid unnecessary questions in Georgian society. While Ivanishvili did sell those assets that were directly in his name in Russia, TI Georgia found that he continued to own at least 10 Russian companies through offshore entities in 2012-2019, which further branched out into an even wider network of subsidiaries. As of today, Ivanishvili owns [39] at least 1 company in Russia (Aqua-Space Ltd) through one of his offshore companies. Interestingly, Aqua-Space Ltd saw increased economic activity in 2023 and reported [40] pure profit of 70 mln rubles. In addition to having misled [41] the public about his Russian assets, the ease with which he managed to sell them in Russia raised questions at the time regarding the possibility of political strings being attached from the side of the Kremlin.

Doing business with a KGB general – Bidzina Ivanishvili's relatives also do business [42] in Russia, with a sanctioned KGB general no less. More specifically, through a company called Geo Organics, Bidzina Ivanishvili’s brother Alexander Ivanishvili and cousin Ucha Mamatsashvili do business with a US-sanctioned [43] former KGB general and Governor of St. Petersburg Georgy Poltavchenko and also with former high ranking official of Volgograd Roland Kherianov, whose wife is a former member of the State Duma Anna Kovichko.

Right-hand man and fixer as the Russian spy – On September 14, 2023, the U.S. imposed sanctions [44] on Otar Partskhaladze, the former Chief Prosecutor of Georgia, due to his cooperation with the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). Partskhaladze, now a Russian citizen, is a right-hand man of Bidzina Ivanishvili. Multiple journalist investigations [45] revealed that he acted as Ivanishvili’s fixer over the years. The extent to which the Georgian Dream went to protect Partskhaladze, even sacrificing [46] the good reputation of the country's National Bank, shows just how important he is in Ivanishvili’s informal power vertical.   

Former security official blowing the whistle – Last but not least, in September 2022 the currently jailed former Deputy Head of the State Security Service Soso Gogashvili blew the whistle [47] and stated publicly [48] that Bidzina Ivanishvili had instructed his superior, Head of the State Security Service Vakhtang Gomelauri (Ivanishvili’s former personal bodyguard), to set up contacts with the FSB.

According to Gogashvili, in December 2016 [just weeks after the Georgian Dream had secured constitutions majority in the Parliamentary elections] he personally met FSB agents in Vladikavkaz upon Ivanishvili’s orders to set up contacts between Georgian and Russian security services and prepare meetings between their respective superiors. Gogashvili claimed that soon after in 2017 Gomelauri directly met FSB Head Alexander Bortnikov (in Vladikavkaz and in Minsk). Gomelauri later hosted high-ranking FSB officials in Georgia in his restaurant for a secret dinner. These included Sergey Beseda (former head of the 5th division of FSB) and an FSB general Aleksey Sedov. 

The objectives of these meetings included: setting up secure corridors for illegal and contraband goods, granting Georgian citizenship to specific persons requested by the Russian side and helping them in setting up companies in Georgia, and illegal transfer of Russian dissidents by Georgia. According to Gogashvili, one specific result of this cooperation was the transfer of ammonium nitrate from Russia through Georgia (where it was re-labeled as Georgian) to Syria (the Georgian port of Poti and a port in Lebanon were allegedly used by the transport ship).

Non-governmental organizations demanded [49] an investigation of the allegations made by Gogashvili, but there was no response.

In addition, Gogashvili also published information [50] according to which the Georgian government was coordinating with the Russian intelligence service in the process of recalling Russian diplomats from Georgia over the “Skripal case”. According to Gogashvili, the list of 10 Russian special agents was agreed upon with Moscow.