Ivanishvili’s letter confirms he’s oligarch with anti-Western goals – opposition MP Samadashvili

Opposition MP Salome Samadashvili said Wednesday that the recent letter by the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, “has confirmed he is an oligarch, informal ruler of the country, standing behind the current anti-Western campaign by the authorities”.

 

In the letter released on Wednesday, Ivanishvili, who left Georgian politics in January of the last year, claimed that the US Ambassador Kelly Degnan requested a meeting with him in March of this year, after Russia invaded Ukraine, and that the meeting on March 21 lasted for three hours.

 

Ivanishvili did not dismiss allegations coming from the former members of the ruling party that the meeting aimed to force Ivanishvili to drag Georgia into Russia’s war in Ukraine, as the billionaire said nothing about the content of the meeting.

 

Without saying names, Ivanishvili suggested that “some forces” were trying to drag Georgia into Russia’s war in Ukraine, claiming that he was not interfering in domestic politics.

 

“Today, there is only one oligarch in Georgia, his name is Bidzina Ivanishvili, and he is not only actively involved, but it can be said that he even directs the policy of the ruling party in our country. Therefore, I think this letter is a confirmation once again that shadow governance is the main challenge of this country today,” Samadashvili said.

 

She stated that the reason behold publishing the letter could be Ivanishvili’s fear “about his own fate and his property”.

 

“Yesterday I returned from the US and I want to tell you that no one in Washington has any illusions about the role of Ivanishvili in our country today. Therefore, all the claims of our Western partners will be addressed to Ivanishvili. He [Ivanishvili] is behind the ongoing, open anti-Western propaganda by the current authorities,” Samadashvili added.

 

In the letter Ivanishvili also called on the authorities to maintain strategic partnership with the US and the EU.