The building of the Parliament of Georgia will soon be sold and transferred to the control of the hotel chain "Kempinski". The opposition suspects that President Saakashvili is trying to depoliticize the central Rustaveli Avenue and the square adjacent to the parliament building, scene of the most important events in the modern history of Georgia. The building is not being auctioned in order not to be able to be bought by the main opponent of the president, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili.
Ambassador of Georgia to France Mamuka Kudava announced the possible new owner of the parliament building: "Kempinski" is ready to purchase the building together with Georgian businessman Buba Keburia. In this case, in the former building of the parliament high-class hotel will be opened. "
Brand "Kempinski" appeared in Georgia in 2006, when the hotel chain announced a project to build a luxury hotel in the parliament building of 1992-1995, former Institute of Marxism-Leninism in the same Rustaveli Avenue. The opposition already suspected that the world famous brand just covered businessmen who wished to remain anonymous. "In fact," Kempinski" had nothing to do with the privatization of the building of the previous parliament”, - one of the leaders of the Republican Party Tinatin Khidasheli told VK. – “We have studied the issue and revealed the participation of the Russian company "Capital-Vostok”. I suspect that in this case we are dealing with similar transaction." According to Ms Khidasheli, "the point most likely is that the building is privatized and transferred to the management of" Kempinski ", which has a wealth of experience in the hotel industry."
After the October parliamentary elections, the Parliament of Georgia will move to Kutaisi - the second most populous city in the country. At the initiative of President Saakashvili, the constitution has been amended accordingly. The opposition claimed that the president thus wants to "take away" the Georgian Parliament from the center of policy which has always been in Tbilisi. "This is not decentralization but de-politicization - head of the Institute of study of nationalism and conflicts Paata Zakareishvili told VK. – “The idea of Saakashvili is obvious that in Kutaisi such protests which took place near the building of the current Parliament in Rustaveli Avenue are unlikely to be organized".
The opposition leader, head of the coalition of "Georgian Dream", billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, according to some sources, tried to keep the center of the political struggle for the opposition. In any case, members of his entourage did not rule out that the billionaire could take part in the tender for the privatization of the Parliament building. "At the level of assumption, we would not rule out such a possibility”, - spokesman of Ivanishvili, Maya Panjikidze, told VK. – “But the government violate the principle of transparency dealing with such an important issue as the privatization of the building of the Parliament".
A source close to the government told VK that the decision on the privatization of the parliament building has already been made; until the middle of August, the Parliament will be privatized in the way of "direct sales", according to the presidential decree.
According to general opinion of experts, the parliament building (the largest building in the country) is a unique piece of architectural art. It was constructed in the late 1940s of the last century with the participation of German prisoners of war, including architects and engineers, captured during the Second World War.
