Bidzina Ivanishvili is a well-known political and public Georgian figure. From 2012 to 2013, he served as Prime Minister of Georgia. Also known as a philanthropist, the owner of Unicor. According to analysts, it takes 153 place in the list of the richest people in the world. He has been actively involved in political activities in Georgia since 2011. According to the results of the parliamentary elections in 2012, the bloc led by the hero of our article won the majority of seats in the federal parliament.
Biography of politician and businessman
Bidzina Ivanishvili was born in the village of Chorvila in the territory of the Georgian SSR in 1956. His father was a miner at a plant called Chiaturmanganets.
In 1980, Bidzina Ivanishvili became a graduate of the Engineering and Economics Department of Tbilisi State University. He graduated with honors. On this, he decided not to stop. Two years later, he entered the graduate school of the Research Institute of Labor in Moscow. On the basis of this university, Bidzina Ivanishvili became a candidate of economic sciences, defending a dissertation. After that, he worked for some time in the branch of the Research Institute of Labor, located in Tbilisi, as a senior researcher.
The first steps in entrepreneurship
With the beginning of perestroika, doors opened before many, it became possible to freely engage in entrepreneurship, which the hero of our article took advantage of. His first venture was a reinforced hose cooperative that existed at the Kamo Foundry and Mechanical Plant. Then he was engaged in the sale of computers and their components in Moscow and Tbilisi.
In 1990, the hero of our article founds the Russian Credit Bank. In it, he holds the post of president, is a member of the Board of Directors. From 1994 to the present, Ivanishvili is the vice president of this commercial organization.
In the 90s, he practically does not live in Russia and Georgia, first sent to America, and then to France, where he acquires real estate.
In 1995, he became CEO of Infintrade, established the company Triada-1, which owns a stake in Lebedinsky Mining and Processing Plant. In 1997, Ivanishvili heads the holding company Metalloinvest, which is engaged in the management of real estate and industrial assets. It should be noted that the main asset all this time is still the bank "Russian Credit".
Business in the 2000s
In the 2000s, Ivanishvili continued to actively engage in entrepreneurial activities. In particular, he becomes one of the leaders of the open joint-stock company Stoilensky GOK.
In 2002, Bidzina Grigoryevich Ivanishvili founded the still popular Doctor Stoletov pharmacy chain, and the next year he became a member of the Board of Directors of Impexbank.
After the “Rose Revolution” ends in Georgia in 2004, he arrives at his historic homeland, where he settles in his native village. All functions for managing their assets are transferred to the Unicor company. In the same period, he unexpectedly for many sells almost all of his metallurgical assets to a group of investors led by Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov.
Property of a businessman
Real legends make up the property of a businessman, because he is one of the richest people in the world. It is authentically known that at the moment he owns a stake in Impexbank, Russian Credit, the agricultural company Stoilenskaya Niva, the pharmacy chain Doctor Stoletov, the hotels Central and Minsk, as well as a number of other industrial assets in different regions of Russia.
Bidzina Ivanishvili’s fortune is estimated at 5.5 billion dollars. At the same time, recently the number of its assets has slightly decreased. This was due to the parliamentary elections in Georgia in 2012. Before the vote, Bidzina Ivanishvili got rid of part of his property. But at the same time, he still assessed the Russian direction as a priority for his business.
Citizenship
In the 90s, having remained in Moscow after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the hero of our article received Russian citizenship. In 2004, he simultaneously obtained citizenship of Georgia.
In 2010, he also issued French citizenship, after which, according to Georgian laws, he was deprived of the passport of this country.
In 2011, he filed a petition asking him to deprive him of Russian citizenship, two months later his voluntary petition was granted. Then he filed a lawsuit to return Georgian citizenship to him, but the process dragged on, but the decision was nevertheless made in his favor.
After the victory of his party in the parliamentary elections, he directly appealed to the country's president Mikheil Saakashvili, so that the issue was quickly resolved, they did so.
On the political front
Bidzina Ivanishvili’s biography changed dramatically when he decided to engage not only in business, but also in politics. It all started during the presidential election in Russia in 1996, when the hero of our article supported General Lebed.
In Georgia, after the “Rose Revolution”, when Mikheil Saakashvili came to power, he supported him for some time. According to his own estimates, he then spent about one billion dollars to correct the economic situation in the country.
In autumn 2011, Bidzina Ivanishvili, whose biography is given in this article, announced that he was joining the opposition to the current government. He decides to create a party and take part in parliamentary elections.
Four days after this statement, he and his wife were deprived of Georgian citizenship, regarding it as a political reprisal. As a result of contesting this decision, Georgian citizenship was returned only to his wife. Ivanishvili, as a foreign citizen, had no right either to run for parliament or to create a party. Therefore, it was decided that the Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia movement, which he founded, would formally be led by his wife. Formally, the party was founded in April 2012.
Election campaign
Ivanishvili’s campaign was accompanied by numerous scandals. For example, in June, a court fined him $ 90 million for bribing voters, then reducing the amount of the penalty exactly two times.
In July 2012, he began to conduct active political activity of Bidzin Ivanishvili. In particular, he publicly criticized the decision to appoint Vano Merabishvili as prime minister of Georgia, noting that in this way Saakashvili is trying to strengthen control over his own people.
Elections to the Georgian parliament took place on October 1. A convincing victory was won by Georgian Dream Ivanishvili. Now, Saakashvili’s party was in opposition. Almost immediately after the announcement of the official results, he announced that not one of the current ministers would retain his post. On October 8, candidates for the new cabinet were announced.
Ivanishvili was considered by many experts as a pro-Russian candidate. For example, anti-Russian propaganda was not beneficial for him, so he promptly closed the Russian-language PIK channel, which Saakashvili created back in 2010.
As prime minister
On October 25, the Georgian parliament approved Bidzina Ivanishvili as the Prime Minister of Georgia. One of his first decisions was to appoint a personal representative to establish contacts with Russia. It was Zurab Abashidze, who previously held the post of Georgia in the Russian Federation.
Assessing the activities of the hero of our article and his political supporters, many experts noted that his assertion as prime minister led to a sharp decrease in Saakashvili’s influence in the country. He instantly lost a majority in parliament and government. All this made Georgian foreign policy more predictable for Russia. Experts hoped that Ivanishvili would not become a supporter of a one-sided pro-American position, would not insist on the return of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to the republic.
Ivanishvili began to reverse the decisions of Saakashvili, which seemed to him doubtful. For example, it was decided not to erect the resort town of Lazik, the project of which was developed by previous authorities. Due to the fact that the construction was carried out on centuries-old swamps, the hero of our article called him absurd and fraudulent. It was decided to create a State Security Service on the basis of the local Ministry of Internal Affairs,
Already at the end of 2012, the Georgian parliament overcame the presidential veto by adopting a law on large-scale amnesty in the country. As a result, about three thousand prisoners were released.
In January 2013, a meeting of the new Georgian Prime Minister with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev took place. This was the first contact at such a high level between the authorities of the two countries after the armed conflict in 2008. Ivanishvili noted that at this meeting they only met, but did not discuss Russian-Georgian relations in detail. Bidzina himself constantly said that he was trying to organize a meeting with Vladimir Putin, but before his resignation from the post of prime minister, she never took place.
In May 2013, the hero of our article announced the nomination of the Minister of Education Giorgi Margvelashvili as president from the Georgian Dream coalition. In the fall, he confidently won the election.
The Georgian parliament approved a new prime minister in November. He was Irakli Garibashvili, whom Ivanishvili himself called his successor.
Politics Views
The hero of our article calls the alliance with Europe and NATO as his main political goal. In this, his intentions coincide with those of Saakashvili. At the same time, he advocates the normalization of relations between Russia and Georgia, since local business, Ivanishvili emphasizes, is not ready to export its goods to America and Europe. But the Russian market is simpler and more understandable. Russia is important for the development of agriculture and the economy. However, there is still no real talk about the restoration of diplomatic relations after 2008.
He called the military events of 2008 a big provocation, which became possible due to the leadership of the Georgian armed forces, Mikheil Saakashvili. Ivanishvili advocated the restoration of the territorial integrity of Georgia, while the discussion of the return of these territories should not affect friendly relations with Russia.
Unlike the government of Mikheil Saakashvili, who announced that he was boycotting the Olympic Games in Georgia, Ivanishvili welcomed the Olympics in Sochi, saying that Georgia would definitely take part in it. At the same time, he noted that Georgia, as a direct neighbor of Russia, will take all necessary measures to ensure that the Olympics are held without any incidents.
His political platform is based on decentralization of power, he advocates empowering municipalities and regional authorities with great power. Assessing the future of his associates, Ivanishvili assured that Saakashvili’s supporters and adherents would not be subjected to any political persecution. But as for the legal side of the case, then all suspicious projects and cases will be immediately sent for consideration by the court. All those guilty of breaking the law will certainly be punished adequately, the prime minister said. For example, Ivanishvili said that he intends to order the resumption of the investigation into the death of Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania. According to one of the conspiracy theories, Saakashvili himself could have been involved in it.
As Prime Minister, he immediately announced that he would resign, preferring to work in the civilian sector. By this time, he said, a strong and capable state system should be created in the country, which will no longer depend on one person. The promise of an early resignation, he eventually kept.
Personal life
The hero of our article married in 1991, when he was 35 years old. The wife of Bidzina Ivanishvili was 19-year-old Yekaterina Khvedelidze. They had three sons and a daughter. The children of Bidzina Ivanishvili - Gvantsa, Bera, Uta and Tsotne.
After the confusing situation with the citizenship of Catherine and her husband Bidzina, it was decided that she would formally lead the political movement of her husband to participate in the parliamentary elections.
There were a lot of amazing things in Ivanishvili’s personal life. So, almost simultaneously with the wedding with Catherine in November 1991 in France, he married the Russian woman Inga Pavlova, who was 19 years older than him. At the same time, Pavlova constantly lived in Moscow. It was this woman who was indicated as an accountant and founder of the Moscow company Factorial, and for several years she worked in one of the banks of the hero of our article. In 1994, they officially divorced in France.
It is interesting that until 2011 Ivanishvili almost never appeared in public, did not meet with reporters, did not give an interview. Just deciding to change the leadership of Georgia, he emerged from the shadows, becoming in a short time one of the most popular politicians in the country.
The politician owns a variety of personal and family property. With his money, he built a business center in Tbilisi on Mount Tabori. A project was implemented by a Japanese architect named Sina Takamutsa, who won a specially organized competition. The business center includes several conference rooms, a guest house, an indoor tennis court, and a pool.
In the gardens that surround him, you can find a variety of sculptures by contemporary masters from around the world. The total cost of this complex, fully owned by Ivanishvili, is estimated at $ 50 million.