Bidzina Ivanishvili, the newly elected honorary Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, the former Prime Minister and the founder of the GD party, on Saturday said despite “being de-facto sanctioned” in the “harshest ways” and by “bypassing all the laws”, he was doing “very well” and was returning to politics to further help Georgia.
In his comments to the media after the congress meeting of the ruling party, Ivanishvili noted his assets were unlawfully frozen within a month following the war in Ukraine, and emphasised he had been “fighting” in courts over these illegal acts.
Ivanishvili’s assets were frozen by Swiss bank Credit Suisse, against which the former PM has made several criminal complaints, suing Credit Suisse’s Bermuda subsidiary in a trial at the country’s Supreme Court in November and December 2021.
He has won a long-running battle with the bank to reclaim funds stolen by a former employee of the Swiss bank in March 2022.
Answering the journalist's question, if “fearing the sanctions” played a role in his decision to return to politics, Ivanishvili stressed he had no fear as he “has been sanctioned for a long time”.
Being asked about the domestic political situation in the country, Ivanishvili evaluated the recent steps of Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili by saying “Today Zourabichvili clearly appears to be a supporter of the [domestic] opposition. It was her choice”.
He also told journalists that he would not be running for the position of the PM, stressing the country’s incumbent Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili would not change, while also noting his return to politics would not bring changes to the Government or the ruling party.