Former Prime Minister of Georgia Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is the founder of the country’s ruling Georgian Dream party, has been sanctioned by the U.S. In a statement dated December 27, Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused the billionaire — whose $7.6 billion net worth exceeds a quarter of the country’s GDP — of trying to “derail Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic future for the benefit of Russia”.
Two days later, Mikheil Kavelashvili, previously a Manchester City striker, took charge as the former Soviet republic’s President, replacing pro-western Salome Zourabichvili.
Prior to the sanctions on Ivanishvili were the “disputed” elections of October 26. Defying pollsters’ predictions, the nation’s electoral authority had announced victory for the Georgian Dream, extending its 12-year grip on power since its formation in 2012. In late November, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze decided to suspend talks regarding accession plans into the EU. This spawned protests which have continued to date and even prompted then-President Zourabichvili, once a supporter of the Georgian Dream, to lock horns with the party.
At one of these protests, an effigy of Mr. Ivanishvili was burnt. For, citizens believe that though his Prime Ministership lasted just for over a year between 2012 and 2013, the billionaire continues to cast a shadow over the Georgian Dream and its policies.
Like Georgia, Mr. Ivanishvili’s past, present and future too are intertwined with those of its larger neighbour. Born in 1956 in Chorvila, western Georgia, Mr. Ivanishvili obtained a degree in engineering from Tbilisi and went on to pursue a degree in economics in Moscow. He started out in the twilight of the Soviet Union selling electronic goods, before branching out to mining and establishing his own bank, Rossiyskiy Kredit.
Ties with Moscow
Reports suggest the 68-year-old’s first brush with the Russian bureaucracy came when his brother was kidnapped back in the day. To secure his release, Mr. Ivanishvili turned to the Russian secret service.
Another report hints at his role in Semibankirschina — a group formed in 1996 to finance the re-election of then Russian President Boris Yeltsin, whose approval rating had dipped to 3%. Mr. Ivanishvili was tasked with financing the election campaign of Alexander Lebed, a candidate put in place to split the votes of communist leader Gennady Zyuganov. The group was repaid through the Yeltsin government’s auction of state-owned companies, under the loans for shares schemes. However, with Vladimir Putin’s ascension to the presidency in the 2000s began the reining in of many of these businessmen.
Mr. Ivanishvili took the political plunge when the country was disenchanted by the rule of Mikheil Saakashvili — the President who presided over the 2008 war with Russia, which saw Georgia cede 20% of its territory. Mr. Ivanishvili sparked hope in people by offering his vision of a socialist democracy in his native town of Chorvila. Separately, he built a castle for himself on a mountaintop in Tbilisi, complete with a helipad, an art gallery and a shark tank. Mr. Saakashvili is currently in jail.
Ultimately, Mr. Ivanishvili and other Georgian Dream leaders have managed to paint a picture. One in which they have drummed up anti-Western rhetoric; espoused ‘Christian values’, and homophobic and transphobic remarks; mongered a theory about a ‘Global War Party’; and cited the war in Ukraine to sell their vision of peace. The party’s vote share in Georgia’s heartland is testament to the popularity of these values.
Clashing with them is another group of Georgians who seek integration with the EU. But the West’s support for the opposition’s claims that the October elections were fraudulent and the subsequent American sanctions on Mr. Ivanishvili have further deteriorated the relations between Georgian Dream and western capitals. As Georgian Dream, undeterred by protests and pressure tactics from the West, is tightening its grip on the state, Mr. Ivanishvili remains the power behind the throne.
Published – January 05, 2025 01:53 am IST
