Bidzina Ivanishvili, honorary chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, stated in an interview with Imedi TV that “America has always been a priority and noted that following the elections, he would meet U.S. Ambassador to Georgia Robin Dunnigan.
He said that he was refusing to meet with the U.S. side due to “personal complexes, while commenting to U.S. Ambassador Dunnigan statement, who had said Ivanishvili was prioritizing his financial interests over those of the state. He added that he believed it would be “counterproductive” to meet with the U.S. Ambassador or make political decisions while his access to funds was restricted.
“I was not against the meeting as such. However, I would not be able to make any decision productively, because I would have a complex that I am doing this for the money that is artificially blocked. If the artificial sanctions were be lifted, then I would be relieved of this complex. I have a complex that I make any decision so that they give me back my money and not for the well-being of my country,” he said.
He claimed that two weeks into the war in Ukraine, his foreign assets were frozen, including works of art and helicopters, which he said he couldn’t get from Germany for several months. Whatever he “saved from the robbery” he transferred to a bank in Switzerland, he said. He then spoke at length about his money problems with the Swiss bank Credit Swiss, describing the legal process and complaining that he has not had access to his money for a year and a half. He said his protracted legal battles and restricted access to his money coincided with critical statements against him from the West.
Ivanishvili expressed optimism that after the war in Ukraine, they would surely manage to change complicated and undesirable attitudes into a more positive one.
Ivanishvili spoke about resetting relations with international partners, stating that “the problem and cause of everything is the war, which intensified and changed all kinds of relations, sometimes even turning what we had upside down.”
“We didn’t have any issues before the war. I believe and hope that the conflict will finish in a few months, perhaps even before the end of this year. When we won the court battle in Singapore and Credit Suisse could no longer stop it from being implemented, I immediately phoned the American ambassador the previous week and requested a meeting. I stated that the reasons there had resolved themselves, so there was no difficulty for me, and I was prepared to meet. The reply was very healthy, there is a desire for it [meeting], and we plan to meet after the elections,” stated the party’s honorary chairman.
