Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said at the Avlabar Residence that Russia only helped South Ossetia in 2008 because the oil prices were high, rumoured to be reaching $500 per barrel. Saakashvili believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin gave Georgian PM Bidzina Ivanishvili $2 billion for obedience.
Georgy Kalatozishvili clarified that Ivanishvili earned $2 billion from Rossiyskiy Bank, Stoylenskaya Niva, Doktor Stoletov and construction companies in Moscow in 2011-2012.
Kalatozishvili pointed out the problem of nationalism and empire in the speech of Saakashvili. The Georgian president expects Russian imperialism to be replaced by nationalism, a phenomenon he considers especially dangerous for Georgia. On the other hand, Georgia became a state with the help of Russian imperialism in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, saving Georgia’s identity.
However, the topic of nationalism in Saakashvili’s speech had no logic proven by history, Kalatozishvili noted. History of Europe showed that attempts to form Etet Nations caused numerous victims and genocide of peoples within nations.
