Georgia rejects Ivanishvili citizenship bid

Georgia’s Justice Ministry denied billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili’s request for citizenship, while indicating that he can apply again using a different procedure, Bloomberg reports.

The ministry said that Ivanishvili, who holds French citizenship, sought to become a Georgian citizen via naturalization, a category reserved for stateless persons.

“Being a foreign national, Mr. Ivanishvili can seek Georgian citizenship through the dual-citizenship process, as provided by the relevant Georgian legislation,” the ministry said today in an e-mailed statement. “No such request has yet been filed by Mr. Ivanishvili with the relevant government agencies.”