Billionaire Boris Ivanishvili is planning to compete with incumbent Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili at the presidential polls by forming a political party and uniting the opposition, Interfax reports.
The businessmen plans to become prime minister or chairman of parliament and form a new government.
Ivanishvili says that total monopolization of power by Saakashvili and constitutional amendments made to keep him in power inspired him to run for president at the polls in 2012.
The billionaire noted that he has been helping the Georgian opposition since 2008 and had understood that it would be hard to achieve results without personal political activity.
Ivanishvili expressed willingness for personal coordination of political processes, uniting of the opposition in the next 2-3 years for the coming parliamentary polls in 2012.
He noted that he promises to publish his action program at a foundation meeting of his party in the near future. Ivanishvili also promised to leave Russian business.
Boris Ivanishvili is the world's 25th richest man, according to Forbes, owning $5.5 billion. He is one of the most low-profile Russian billionaires. He announced the initiatives on Wednesday.
