81 Facts About Bidzina Ivanishvili

Bidzina Ivanishvili, known as Boris Grigoryevich Ivanishvili, is a French-Georgian businessman, politician and billionaire oligarch.

Bidzina Ivanishvili is founder and the leader of the ruling Georgian Dream party and is widely recognized as the de facto ruler of Georgia since his party's victory in the election in 2012.

Bidzina Ivanishvili made his wealth in Russia in the 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Bidzina Ivanishvili initially sold computers in Russia before acquiring banking and metals assets for cheap when the Russian government privatized its Soviet-era state assets under Mikhail Gorbachev, and subsequently Boris Yeltsin.

Bidzina Ivanishvili left Russia in 2002 and moved to France, becoming a French citizen.

Bidzina Ivanishvili entered Georgian politics in 2012, when he founded the Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia party and secured victory in the 2012 Georgian parliamentary election against the United National Movement party of incumbent President Mikheil Saakashvili.

Bidzina Ivanishvili was born in Chorvila, a village in the Imereti region of Georgia.

Bidzina Ivanishvili was the youngest of five children in a poor family.

Bidzina Ivanishvili graduated from the Faculty of Engineering and Economics of the Tbilisi State University in 1980, and in 1982, went to Moscow to pursue a PhD in economics at the Moscow State University of Railway Engineering.

In 1996, Bidzina Ivanishvili became part of Semibankirschina, a group of influential Russian bankers who supported the re-election of Boris Yeltsin as Russian president during the 1996 Russian presidential election.

Bidzina Ivanishvili sponsored the presidential campaign of Alexander Lebed in an attempt to pull votes from the Communist candidate Gennady Zyuganov, who was Yeltsin's main opponent.

Bidzina Ivanishvili maintained that he was a supporter of Boris Yeltsin who opposed the Communist candidate.

Bidzina Ivanishvili had provided the funds to build Tbilisi's Sameba Cathedral, the largest church in Georgia, the fact that was unknown to the general public until former President of Georgia Eduard Shevardnadze named Bidzina Ivanishvili in his memoirs.

Bidzina Ivanishvili donated to support the government of Georgia after the Rose Revolution.

Bidzina Ivanishvili provided funds to reform the police and build a new infrastructure in the country.

At that time, Bidzina Ivanishvili was allegedly close to Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili, while Saakashvili allegedly remained more sceptical of him.

Bidzina Ivanishvili allegedly fell out with Saakashvili at the beginning of 2008.

Bidzina Ivanishvili himself stated that he came under increasing pressure from the Saakashvili government and was no longer interested in providing funds for the government projects.

For example, in January 2008, the Labor Party leader Shalva Natelashvili said that in case of winning the presidential election, he would offer the office of prime minister to Bidzina Ivanishvili, without clarifying whether he had Bidzina Ivanishvili's approval for such move.

On 7 October 2011, Bidzina Ivanishvili announced his intention to lead the opposition in the 2012 Georgian parliamentary election in a written statement, citing the perceived authoritarianism of President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili.

Four days after declaring his intentions, Bidzina Ivanishvili was stripped of his citizenship by Georgian authorities, citing article 32 of the Georgian Law on Citizenship.

On 21 April 2012, Bidzina Ivanishvili formally established the Georgian Dream political party.

The court ruled that Bidzina Ivanishvili used offshore companies linked to him to by-pass the law, illegally donating to the Georgian Dream coalition.

The State Audit Service said that this constituted an illegal donation Bidzina Ivanishvili had made through his companies in violation of the party funding rules and requested the court to fine him.

Bidzina Ivanishvili was not provided with adequate time or sufficient equality of arms to contest effectively.

Bidzina Ivanishvili was denied the opportunity to cross-examine State Audit Organization witnesses.

On 25 October 2012, Bidzina Ivanishvili officially took office as Prime Minister of Georgia, marking the first peaceful transition of power to occur in modern Georgia's history.

Bidzina Ivanishvili brushed off the proposal, stating that solving demographic problems "first and foremost needs economic development".

Bidzina Ivanishvili's Georgia scored well on Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index and Index and Freedom House's Freedom in the World index.

Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili chose Brussels for his first foreign visit in November 2012.

Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili appointed special envoy for relations with Russia, Zurab Abashidze.

Bidzina Ivanishvili said that he would continue to uphold Georgia's national interests in relation to Russia, but would abandon "a confrontational manner of interaction".

Bidzina Ivanishvili was succeeded by Interior Minister Irakli Garibashvili, whom he had announced as his successor on 2 November 2013.

Bidzina Ivanishvili stated that his intention was to return to civil sector and form a non-government organisation.

However, Bidzina Ivanishvili still continued to be regarded by his political opponents as the de facto leader of Georgia.

The Ministers of Health Ekaterine Tikaradze and Davit Sergeenko previously managed the hospital which Bidzina Ivanishvili has been funding in his home municipality.

Bidzina Ivanishvili himself denied any accusations of informal rule, saying that he takes no part in decision-making except giving advice, which might or might not be taken into account.

In March 2016, Bidzina Ivanishvili attracted international controversy for uprooting and relocating a 100-year-old tulip tree to the Shekvetili Dendrological Park.

In 2018, Bidzina Ivanishvili made a return to politics, being re-elected as the chairman of Georgian Dream on 26 April 2018.

Bidzina Ivanishvili's return was perceived as a move to maintain the unity of the coalition.

On 5 November 2018, Bidzina Ivanishvili addressed the public ahead of the presidential election runoff.

Bidzina Ivanishvili said that the people's dissatisfaction was understandable, although it would be a mistake to elect the opposition candidate Grigol Vashadze, who announced that he would pardon Bachana Akhalaia, Mikheil Saakashvili, and others "charged with torture and abuse".

Bidzina Ivanishvili promised that the situation in the country would change for the better in a year.

The Cartu Foundation, owned by Bidzina Ivanishvili, promised to completely cover debts for 600,000 citizens, which was criticized as a "blatant instance of vote buying".

The ruling party members, including Bidizna Bidzina Ivanishvili, have claimed that Sergei Gavrilov arbitrarily sat in the Georgian parliament's speaker's chair, in violation of the protocol.

On 24 June 2019, Bidzina Ivanishvili addressed the public, announcing a change to the electoral system from a mixed to fully proportional representation for the 2020 elections and lowering of the vote barrier for parties, in line with demands of protesters.

Bidzina Ivanishvili said that he was disappointed with the parliament's decision to vote down the bill.

The Parliament voted to replace Gakharia with Irakli Garibashvili, who was considered to be a close ally of Bidzina Ivanishvili, which led to speculations whether Ivanishvili continued to influence politics behind the scenes.

Bidzina Ivanishvili allegedly maintained close business connections with Russian oligarchs, although Bidzina Ivanishvili himself denounced such accusations.

Bidzina Ivanishvili was accused of helping Yevtushenkov evade international sanctions by the opposition, with UNM General Secretary Petre Tsiskarishvili speculating on the possibility of sanctions on Bidzina Ivanishvili.

On 9 June 2022, the European Parliament issued a six-page resolution accusing the government of Georgia and Bidzina Ivanishvili of eroding press freedom in the country.

On 14 December 2022, the European Parliament has again called the European Council to sanction Bidzina Ivanishvili, accusing him of deteriorating the democratic political process in Georgia and helping Russia to avoid the international sanctions.

Since 2022, Bidzina Ivanishvili has been undergoing a legal battle with the Credit Suisse, a Swiss bank, involving a fraudulent scheme with the banker Patrice Lescaudron taking money from Bidzina Ivanishvili's accounts to cover growing losses among others clients' portfolios.

On 30 December 2023, Bidzina Ivanishvili announced that he was returning to Georgian politics.

Bidzina Ivanishvili was elected as a honorary chairman by Georgian Dream.

Bidzina Ivanishvili was sanctioned by several European Union member states.

Bidzina Ivanishvili has expressed support for Georgia's membership in the European Union and NATO.

Bidzina Ivanishvili has said that Georgia's accession to the EU and NATO would be his foreign policy priorities.

Bidzina Ivanishvili has additionally noted that "strategic partnership with the United States has a huge importance".

Bidzina Ivanishvili has expressed support for normalization of relations with Russia.

Bidzina Ivanishvili has stated that normalization of relations with Russia should start with improving economic and cultural relations, stressing the importance of the Russian market for Georgian agriculture and economy.

Bidzina Ivanishvili said that he will combine the restoration of constructive relations with Russia with aspiring towards NATO at the same time.

Bidzina Ivanishvili has noted that Georgia "should become a democratic state, based on rule of law, attractive state for Abkhazians and Ossetians".

Bidzina Ivanishvili has said that reintegration of Abkhazia and South Ossetia should happen on the basis of peaceful dialogue and concurrence in interests.

One of the most controversial aspects of the interview was Bidzina Ivanishvili's focus on LGBTQ+ issues, where he perpetuated transphobic and homophobic myths to appeal to conservative voters.

Bidzina Ivanishvili singled out Giorgi Gakharia, a former ally and chair of the For Georgia party, alleging that Gakharia sought to drag the country into war.

Bidzina Ivanishvili appeared in the Panama Papers, Pandora Papers, and Suisse secrets.

Bidzina Ivanishvili has millions of dollars worth of undisclosed real estate in Russia.

Bidzina Ivanishvili has invested money into hotels, including Hotel Lux, and in a Russian chain of drugstores known as "Doctor Stoletov".

Bidzina Ivanishvili has purchased four properties in downtown Moscow for the construction of a luxury hotel.

Bidzina Ivanishvili purchased artwork by Pablo Picasso and the contemporary artist Peter Doig at international auctions.

Bidzina Ivanishvili bought Niko Pirosmani's Arsenal Hill at Night, paying a record US$1.5 million for a painting by a Georgian artist.

Bidzina Ivanishvili then donated the painting to the State Museum of Arts of Georgia.

The Bidzina Ivanishvili family is the only donor of the foundation, and its projects were implemented with the finances of the foundation.

Bidzina Ivanishvili's name is attached to many public projects: repairs to the Tbilisi State University, a seaside amusement park, a ski resort, national parks, medical clinics, etc.

Bidzina Ivanishvili is known by the Russian first name Boris, which he previously used while working in Russia.

Bidzina Ivanishvili was widely reported under that name in the West.

Bidzina Ivanishvili is known as a collector of exotic animals, among them sharks, lemurs, and a kangaroo.

In January 2012, Bidzina Ivanishvili sought to regain his Georgian citizenship via naturalization, but was denied.

However, Bidzina Ivanishvili subsequently stopped the process of cancelling his French citizenship and as of 2024 media continued to report that Bidzina Ivanishvili remained a citizen of France.

Bidzina Ivanishvili was Honorary Consul of the Republic of San Marino in Georgia from 2000 to 2012.