Pre-election war in Georgia

Georgi Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi, exclusively to VK

A mass meeting of the Georgian Dream Coalition created by Bidzina Ivanishvili was held in Georgia's second-largest city, Kutaisi, several days ago. This meeting is remarkable because it is the first meeting in Georgian post-Soviet history to be held outside its capital. This fact is quite outstanding. The civil war in 1991-1993 and the meetings of “zviadists” (armed partisans of ex-President Zviad Gamsakhurdia) in his native region of Samegrelo do not count. So the meeting near the 100-step stairs in the centre of Kutaisi is actually the first one outside Tbilisi in Georgian history.

Tbilisi can't be surprised about the demonstrations. Georgian Dream held its meeting in Tbilisi on the 27th of May. There wasn’t enough space in Freedom Square for all the people who wanted to listen to “the most wealthy Georgian” (Levan Gachechiladze, former presidential candidate and an opposition colleague of Bidzinu Ivanishvili, characterized him with this title). However, Kutaisi is turning into the political and administrative centre of Georgia. After the parliamentary elections of October, the parliament will move to Kutaisi, along with a lot of administrative organizations.

That’s why President Saakashvili and the billionaire Ivanishvili, who are competing in the pre-election war, have decided to conquer Kutaisi.

The 26th of May, Independence Day, was celebrated with a military parade in Kutaisi (not in Tbilisi) for the first time. Bidzina Ivanishvili needed to demonstrate that he realizes the importance of the second-largest city of Georgia as well as is rival does. On the 10th of June lots of people inspired by “the Georgian dream” moved towards Kutaisi from all the districts of the region of Imereti, located in the west of the country. Huge bullet-proof squares of glass were set in front of the tribune. PR technologists consider this measure to be a political move, serving to emphasize the importance of this event. Nevertheless, the day before the meeting, Ivanishvili’s spouse, Yekaterina Khvedelidze, announced that her husband’s life was in danger and she had decided to stay in Tbilisi in order to “succeed him and head the opposition if something happens to him”.

This declaration of the would-be First Lady excited society and warmed its interest in the pre-election activity of Ivanishvili. In his speech, the billionaire declared that after he comes to power he will provide a reasonable quality of life for all the citizens of Georgia. After that, he addressed the residents of Sachkhere, his native town, the delegation of which was the most numerous. “Long live Georgia and Bidzina!” – thousands of the people from Sachkhere chanted; they adored their townsman who had already provided them a reasonable quality of life by paying them pension benefits, discharging electricity debts and acquiring medical insurance policies at the expense of his vast fortune of 6 billion dollars.

However, his fortune could be substantially reduced. In any case, the authorities are doing their best for it; the Control Chamber charged the companies belonging to Ivanishvili with a breach of the law “On Political Unions of Citizens”. According to the Chamber, Ivanishvili financed Georgian Dream with his own funds to a greater degree than permitted by the law, which determines strict limitations of donations from individuals or legal entities.

Tbilisi City Court imposed a fine of 92 million dollars on Ivanishvili. If he doesn’t pay by this weekend, the amount of the fine could substantially increase. In addition, the court may arrest and auction off all his property, including the huge palace where he lives with his family.

But the problem is in the fact that, formally, nothing belongs to Ivanishvili; his palace in Tbilisi, his foundation and Cartu Bank are registered in offshore zones in the name of third parties or LLCs, which formally have nothing to do with Ivanishvili’s deals. This was done in the period when relations between the President and Ivanishvili were perfect. This brings up the question: Why? Is it possible that the reason is Ivanishvili’s plan to participate in the Georgian political process which was conceived many years ago, his role of a man who isn’t interested in politics at all and the fact that he created the guarantees of the immunity of his property against the possibility of conflict with the authorities?

Nevertheless, Ivanishvili’s teammates affirm that this circumstance can hardly stop the authorities if they decide to go to the mat and to expel Ivanishvili from his own palace. Archil Kbilashvili, Ivanishvili’s former lawyer and a current board member of Georgian Dream told VK.

“There isn’t any company titled under the name of Bidzina Ivanishvili. As far as I know, even his palace belongs to an LLC that has nothing to do with our leader,” Mister Kbilashvili said. “The same is true for the companies that have been charged. When we ask why they imposed the fine on Ivanishvili, they answer that they carried out an investigation and decided that he is the real owner. Therefore, if the authorities want to, they can deprive Ivanishvili of all his property in Georgia.

Nobody can seriously deny that the assets titled in the name of third parties belong to the billionaire. The problem is the possibility of proving it. The notion of “an associate” exists in Georgian legislation in order to solve such problems. It appeared during the development of laws on anti-corruption and anti-crime measures; this notion lets the authorities specify the real owners of the assets, even though it formally belongs to other people.

No doubt the ruling political elite will use it if required. It is also clear that Bidzina Ivanishvili fighting for power can risk many things (or even everything). That’s why the coming election campaign in Georgia is expected to be one of the hottest ones in the country’s independent history.