The wealthiest guy in Georgia is reportedly shifting money to evade US sanctions.

 Georgia's parliament hastily passed changes to the country's tax code last spring, amid protests by tens of thousands of Georgians against what they perceived as blatant Russian influence on Georgian politics.

The anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI) Georgia wrote at the time that the change, which permits tax-free transfers of assets from offshore accounts to Georgia, might have been made to benefit Bidzina Ivanishvili, the former prime minister and richest person in the nation.


He founded Georgian Dream, the nation's dominant party, and serves as its honorary chairman.

Beso Namchavadze, a senior economics analyst at TI Georgia, states, "It is now evident that those adjustments were made for him."

Mr. Ivanishvili, who is reported to be worth $4.9 billion (£3.9 billion), earned his fortune in banking, metallurgy, and computing in Russia in the 1990s. It is thought that the majority of his money is hidden away in offshore businesses.

In May of last year, Georgia's lawmakers enacted the controversial "transparency on foreign influence bill," also known as the "foreign agents law," which sparked a political crisis and daily public protests.


Media outlets and NGOs that obtain over 20% of their money from overseas are required by this law to register as "organisations acting in the interest of a foreign power," submit to rigorous audits, or risk fines. Many people believed it was an attempt to stop the US and other Western powers from influencing the nation.


Following the Georgian Dream-led government's victory in contentious parliamentary elections in October, protests continued. When it announced at the beginning of December that it would be delaying EU admission discussions, protests were sparked once more.

Police brutally attacked and arrested hundreds of nonviolent protesters.


At the end of last year, the US government declared sanctions against Mr. Ivanishvili in response to this crackdown.

Sanctions from the UK are another option. A Liberal Democrat MP named James MacClearly filed an Early Day Motion in the UK parliament last month, urging the government to penalise Mr. Ivanishvili.

The resolution expressed "deep concern at the suspension of Georgia's EU accession process and the increasing use of excessive force against peaceful protesters" .


According to TI Georgia, Mr. Ivanishvili's entire economic empire would be impacted if the UK imposed penalties on him because he owns holding companies in the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands, two British Overseas Territories.

"All his big business, which he has in Georgia, in the hospitality sector, in the energy sector, all the parent companies of these Georgian companies, the last beneficiaries are registered in these so-called offshore territories," states Beso Namchavadze.

He continues by saying that TI Georgia thinks Mr. Ivanishvili and other family members are still giving newly formed Georgian corporations ownership of businesses they once controlled through offshore subsidiaries.

According to figures released by the Ministry of Finance, Georgia imported paintings and other artwork valued at around $500 million in January of this year.

Many people think the piece of art was part of Mr. Ivanishvili's priceless collection.


According to Tina Khidasheli, the former defence minister of Georgia and the leader of the non-governmental group Civic Idea, "it is pretty obvious to everyone who knows him that this is something that he values the most out of all the assets, and all the wealth, that he has."

"He is going to bring paintings back and he does not want to pay tax on it."

The tax-free transfer of assets from offshore accounts to Georgia was recently defended by Paata Kvijinadze, the leader of Georgia's parliamentary committee on finance and budget.

In a social media post, he stated, "I am happy about this law if anyone benefited from it." "This is exactly what the law was meant to be: to bring companies from offshore zones and attract more investments into the country" .

Georgia's ruling party released a statement defending Mr. Ivanishvili in reaction to the planned UK sanctions, claiming that the threat of sanctions was "without any foundation" against the party founder who had given "democratic breakthrough to the country."


Separately, last month, Mr. Ivanishvili's attorney declared that his client was suing Swiss bank Julius Baer for incorrectly interpreting "the so-called" American sanctions, which the attorney referred to as "political blackmail," among other reasons.

Although his businesses and family members are unaffected, the US sanctions on Mr. Ivanishvili include freezing his assets and prohibiting US persons and businesses from conducting direct commerce with him.

Due to fraud and poor money management, Mr. Ivanishvili has been embroiled in legal disputes with Credit Suisse, another Swiss bank, for over ten years.


Some people think that the billionaire's long-standing financial problems are the root cause of his hatred of the West and his increased use of conspiracy theories at home, such as accusing opponents of belonging to the "global war party" or "deep state."

According to Tina Khdasheli, he has been persuaded that Credit Suisse was involved in a massive plot against him ever since. Georgia was kept captive by Bidzina Ivanishvili.