Georgia court orders seizure of 2.5 million GEL bail after Ivanishvili’s ex-ally Bachiashvili flees

A Georgian court has ruled to seize assets belonging to businessman Giorgi Bachiashvili, the former “personal financier” of ex-Prime Minister and ruling Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, after he left the country without permission.

Judge Giorgi Gelashvili granted the prosecution’s request on March 6, ordering that real estate assets, previously seized to secure Bachiashvili’s 2.5 million GEL bail, be transferred to the National Bureau of Enforcement. The move aims to recover the funds after the businessman failed to appear in court.

Public records indicate that the seized assets include a 178.5-square-meter apartment in Bachiashvili’s name on Nekerchkhli Street in Lisi and a 459-square-meter apartment registered under his father, Aleksandre Bachiashvili, on Chavchavadze Lane in Vake.

The court decision follows fresh charges against Bachiashvili, who was accused on March 5 of illegally crossing the border. Prosecutors claim he fled Georgia on March 2, two days before he publicly announced his departure via Facebook.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Bachiashvili left the country using a “special hiding place in a car” to bypass the Georgian checkpoint at the Armenian border. Upon reaching Armenia, he allegedly presented a Russian passport issued in his name. Authorities say he had been barred from leaving Georgia since July 2023, with both his Georgian and Russian passports confiscated. It remains unclear whether he has since traveled beyond Armenia.

Bachiashvili has described his departure as an escape through “loopholes in the system.” He also stated that his parents had left Georgia and were now in Europe.

The businessman is already facing multiple legal battles, including charges related to the alleged embezzlement of cryptocurrency investments and a dispute over the Mtkvari hydroelectric power plant project. If convicted in the cryptocurrency case, Bachiashvili could face up to 11 years in prison. He maintains that the charges against him are politically motivated.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has vowed to continue its investigation, seeking to identify and arrest those who assisted Bachiashvili in his escape.