It is unfortunate that the once-famous Swiss banking system, which was known for its reliability, is now being used for political blackmail – no matter what kind of blackmail is attempted, Bidzina Ivanishvili will never compromise the vital interests of this country, GD Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said to journalists regarding the dispute between Bidzina Ivanishvili and the Swiss bank Julius Baer.
He stated that the actions of the mentioned bank towards Ivanishvili have a political basis.
“It is absolutely clear that all of this has a clearly political foundation. You know that the looting of Bidzina Ivanishvili's account began in 2008, after he refused to have any communication with Mikheil Saakashvili. As for the new stage of problems, these problems arose after the war in Ukraine began, when specific demands were made regarding Georgia, which we did not agree with the respective subjects, and this led to problems for Mr. Ivanishvili when his funds were frozen in the Swiss bank. This is entirely political. The coordination we see in international media also has a political basis from start to finish. All of this was used as a tool for blackmail against Bidzina Ivanishvili. We see that this process is continuing.
Once again, we must say one simple thing – no matter what kind of blackmail is attempted, Bidzina Ivanishvili will never compromise the vital interests of this country. You know that in 2011, he entered the political process at great risk. He put everything aside because, at that moment, it was the only alternative path for defending the country's interests. The same happened in 2022, despite serious pressure and blackmail. At no point did anyone even think of taking steps that would have been related to the destruction of our country. Therefore, this is clearly political blackmail. It is unfortunate that the once-famous Swiss banking system, which was renowned for its reliability, is now being used for political blackmail. In doing so, they are actually undermining the Swiss banks themselves. For example, the price of Credit Suisse shares has depreciated by more than 100 times. While the price of Credit Suisse shares was 80 francs, today it is far below that. Specific individuals are taking advantage of this by buying these shares cheaply. This is the result of political coordination from start to finish. There was a specific very harmful interest towards our country, which involved the destruction of our country and the opening of a 'second front.' These political interests are connected to this, which is why Swiss banks are being used against Bidzina Ivanishvili,” Irakli Kobakhidze stated.
