Tbilisi Mayor does not expect compensation for Ivanishvili despite court win

Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze on Tuesday said he had no expectation that Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder of Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia, will receive compensation following his recent legal victory in London. Although, he noted, Ivanishvili won the case in all judicial instances, Kaladze claimed that political decisions had prevented enforcement in previous cases and that he expects a similar outcome now.

“Ivanishvili has prevailed in every court, yet the ruling is still not being enforced,” Kaladze said. “We know that informal governance has long existed globally, and the political blackmail of Ivanishvili and his family continues to this day. What we are seeing is the greatest robbery of the 21st century.”

Kaladze argued that the behaviour of what he described as “informal global actors” gave him no reason to believe the judgment will be carried out. He also criticised the US for imposing sanctions on Ivanishvili earlier this year “without any explanation or specifics”.

“For years we’ve heard talk about opening a second front in Georgia or joining sanctions,” he said. “All we are seeing are political decisions driven by the fact that our country could not be used to advance their interests.”

Kaladze urged the public to wait for further developments but reiterated his belief that enforcement of the ruling was unlikely.