Ruling party MP advises Gonchareno look after “corrupt” relatives, rather than fighting Ivanishvili

Givi Mikanadze, the ruling Georgian Dream party MP, on Thursday advised his Ukrainian colleague Oleksiy Goncharenko to “look after his family members, who are exposed in corruption”, rather than ensuring efforts to put Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the GD, on the list of sanctioned individuals. 

 

Goncharenko has applied to president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine to put Ivanishvili on Ukraine’s sanctions list as a “Russian spy”, who he said was a threat both to Georgia and Ukraine. 

 

The lawmaker also said Ivanishvili, the former prime minister of Georgia who entered and quit domestic politics twice since 2013, was running the country “from the backstage” and heading Tbilisi to Russia. 

 

In his comments, Mikanadze said allegations against Ivanishvili were “absolutely unfounded” and that he “never interferes” in Georgian politics.