A Georgian billionaire listed by Forbes with $6.5 billion in assets, Ivanishvili Bidzina is known to the world for his short life. political activities as Prime Minister of Georgia. Until 2011, when Bidzina Grigoryevich announced his participation in the parliamentary elections, he was a secretive person known only in business circles. He began to earn his fortune by acquiring state enterprises during the privatization of the Soviet heritage at the end of 1990. Married, has four children.

Biography

Information about the personal life and development of the business empire of this influential person is difficult to find. But, nevertheless, there is brief information from his biography. Ivanishvili Bidzina, whose date of birth is February 18, 1956, from the Sachkhere region of Georgia, from the village of Chorvila. It was there that the future philanthropist and entrepreneur Bidzina was born. The father was a miner. Seeing his poor future in his native village, after graduating from school, an ambitious young man successfully entered the Faculty of Economics at Tbilisi State University. As a student, the guy worked as a cleaner, and later as a grinder at a foundry.

In 1980 he received a diploma with honors from the higher educational institution. This helped him to rise in a position at the plant to a senior engineer, and later to the head of the laboratory. Since 1982, Ivanishvili moved to Moscow for postgraduate studies at the Research Institute of Labor and Social Issues. Four years later, having successfully defended his work, he became a candidate of economic sciences.

First entrepreneurial trials

Having achieved significant results in science in Moscow, Ivanishvili Bidzina, whose biography records the repeated change of residence between Russia, Georgia, and later France, returned to Tbilisi. He got a job as a senior researcher at the branch of the Research Institute of Labor, and lived in a hostel at the Foundry and Mechanical Plant.

But the hopeless existence of a researcher spurred young man start a profitable business. Bidzina organized a cooperative. After analyzing scarce goods, he realized that reinforced hoses would be in demand. Connections at the foundry helped Ivanashvili to rent premises there and set up production. However, circumstances unknown to the general public prevented the novice entrepreneur from bringing the matter to the production of finished products.

But the idea was born to trade computers. The suppliers were Georgian Jews who had settled abroad. After the first million-dollar transaction, the procurator became interested in his activities, and she arrested Ivanishvili Bidzin's account. The Georgian businessman went to earn his fortune in Moscow.

Start-up capital

Returning to the capital, Ivanishvili immediately visited his graduate student friend Vitaly Malkin, who, with his friends A. Bryantsev and S. Mosin, at that time worked in the Agroprogress cooperative, which was engaged in the construction of greenhouses. Bidzina proposed the idea of ​​selling electronic equipment. Business went on: people dismantled tape recorders, computers, and later push-button telephones from a Chinese factory owned by graduate students of the research institute.

Already by 1990, partners Vitaly Malkin and Ivanishvili Bidzina became co-founders of Agroprogress. They were leaders in the sale of electronic equipment at that time in Moscow. The cooperative had contracts worth $11 million.

Parallel entrepreneurial activity Bidzina from 1998 to 1990 worked in the Federation of non-professional filmmakers as deputy head of the commercial information department.

Banking

Being a prudent and far-sighted person, in 1990, having start-up capital, Bidzina decided to found a bank. Together with partners Mosin and Malkin, they registered the Russian Credit financial and credit institution. The shares of the bank were distributed as follows: 33% belonged to V. Malkin and 67% - to B. Ivanishvili with a share bought from S. Mosin.

The position of either president or deputy chairman of the board in the new business went to a Georgian entrepreneur. What is known for sure is that from 1994 to this day he has been listed in his financial brainchild as first vice president.

By the end of 1990, the bank received a license to conduct operations in foreign currency. The partners made a wonderful tandem. Ivanishvili Bidzina managed Russian Credit, and the diplomatic Vitaly Borisovich was in charge of relations with the outside world. In 1993, the partners established Impexbank.

The entrepreneur also took care of the training of personnel and their training in financial literacy. He opened a specialized college, where he himself taught some disciplines.

Brother for brother

For Bidzin Ivanishvili, the family, and especially her safety, did not fade into the background. The business successes of the founders of Rossiyskiy Kredit were so great that they could not fail to attract the attention of gangster groups in the early 90s.

In 1993, Ivanishvili learned about the kidnapping of his brother in Georgia and that the criminals were demanding a ransom for his freedom. The businessman acted judiciously, he did not agree to the conditions put forward by the bandits, because he understood that such blackmail could be used in relation to his other relatives. Everything worked out, they managed to find a brother, and Vladimir Rushailo, the head of the RUBOP of Moscow, helped in this. For such an operation, the regional department for combating organized crime was rewarded by the organization of a charitable foundation, donations to which were made by Rossiyskiy Kredit and other financial institutions.

Moving to France

In 1994, Ivanishvili Bidzina resigned from the post of president of the bank in favor of V. Malkinai and moved to the position of vice-president of the charitable foundation. In the same period, he left Russia with his family, moving first to America, and later to France. Not far from Paris, the entrepreneur bought real estate.

Another interesting point related to this country is captured in the biography of Bidzin Ivanishvili. The entrepreneur's wife, Ekaterina Khvedelidze, who bore him four children and lives with him to this day, was not the only woman for some time. In France, Bidzina married Inga Pavlova a month after his marriage to nineteen-year-old Ekaterina in Georgia. Their marriage did not last long, and already in 1994, just at the time when the businessman was in Paris, they divorced. Moreover, in one of the interviews, Inga said that she was not present at the dissolution of the marriage, and the procedure took place without her notice.

Non-core assets

In 1995, Bidzina returned to his Moscow business and headed the post of vice president of Roscredit. Now Ivanishvili has chosen a new strategy - the acquisition of junk companies, which a few years later made him a billionaire. Large mining and processing plants - Lebedinsky, Mikhailovsky, Stoilensky - became the property of the bank. Among the assets of Roscredit was a 30% stake in the metallurgical Krasnoyarsk plant.

To serve industrial enterprises, Bidzina created bridge banks: Rosexportbank, Impexbank, Roslegprombank. The Roscredit financial institution prospered, and in 1996 ranked seventh in the country in terms of net assets.

Political career

The beginning of 2011 was marked in Georgia by the fact that Bidzina Grigoryevich Ivanishvili announced the creation of a political party in opposition to Saakashvili and his intention to sell all his Russian assets. A few days later, the figure was deprived of Georgian citizenship, justifying this by the presence of French citizenship. By December of the same year, the Georgian Dream movement, headed by Ivanishvili, appeared. As the politician promised, by the fall of 2012 he had sold the last asset. It was the agro-industrial corporation Stoilenskaya Niva.

Bidzin's popularity skyrocketed. Immediately, provocative statements in his direction began: first, Ivanishvili was accused of helping Chechen fighters, and then fined for bribing voters. Nevertheless, he achieved his goal, and by the fall of 2012 he became prime minister. Ivanishvili advocated integration with Europe, support for Russian-Georgian relations, and partnership with the United States.

Having taken the chair of the prime minister, Bidzina warned the people that, having established the state system, he would leave the post in a year and a half, but this happened a little earlier. On November 20 of the year following the election, he retired from politics.

Native Chorvila

There is not a single unkempt house and a deprived resident in the village of Chorvila, which is located in the Sachkhere region of Georgia. All because he does not forget about his native village Bidzina Ivanishvili. The photo of this prosperous place against the background of nearby settlements is impressive. In Chorvil good roads, a beautiful House of Culture, the Wedding Palace, a student campus, all residential buildings have been renovated. Families in need are provided with everything necessary for comfortable housing, even household appliances. The newlyweds receive a gift of three thousand dollars. Surprising is the fact that Bidzina's fellow villagers have been paying utility bills for seven years.

Those who have visited this famous Georgian place say that it looks like a Swiss one. But "philanthropy for his own" lasted until Ivanishvili was elected to the post of prime minister.

In addition to real estate in France, Russia and Georgia, Ivanishvili owns a business center worth about $50 million, which is located on Mount Tabori. Its construction lasted 10 years, and the project was developed by the Japanese architect Shin Takamatsu.

Often referred to as Boris. This has been going on since my student days. When the Georgian youth first came to Moscow, one of the teachers called the graduate student Bidzina by this name, so Ivanishvili remained Boris for the Russians.

Among the hobbies, the philanthropist and billionaire prefers chess, backgammon and singing. The entrepreneur also has a collection of paintings by famous authors.

], he stayed to work at the Foundry and Mechanical Plant, where he was first a senior engineer, and then head of a laboratory for scientific organization labor, .

From 1982 to 1986, Ivanishvili studied at the graduate school of the Research Institute of Labor and Social Issues in Moscow,,. At this time, he met Vitaly Malkin, who later became his business partner,. In 1986, Ivanishvili defended his dissertation on scientific organization and labor economics, becoming a candidate of economic sciences,.

After defending his dissertation, Ivanishvili returned to Tbilisi and got a job as a senior researcher at the local branch of the Research Institute of Labor,,,. During this time, he lived in the dormitory of the Foundry and Mechanical Plant. In 1987, Ivanishvili registered his own cooperative, intending to engage in the production of reinforced hoses, which were in short supply at that time,. He rented premises from the Foundry and Mechanical Plant and began pre-production, but soon began selling computers instead of selling hoses. The main suppliers of electronics for Ivanishvili were his Georgian Jewish acquaintances who had gone abroad, and the Georgian Academy of Sciences turned out to be the first buyer. However, after the first major deal, the prosecutor's office arrested Ivanishvili's accounts ("The Georgian prosecutor's office did not like my activity," the businessman noted), after which he left for Moscow,,.

In 1988-1990, Ivanishvili worked as deputy head of the department of the All-Union Center for Commercial Information (VTsKI) of the Federation of Non-Professional Cinematographers of the Society of Cinema Friends, (the society existed on subsidies from its founders - the Union of Cinematographers of the USSR, Goskino of the USSR, the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions - the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions and the Central Committee of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League) . At the same time, since 1988, Ivanishvili worked in the Agroprogress cooperative, created by Malkin together with Sergey Mosin and Alexander Bryantsev, which was initially engaged in the construction of greenhouses, but after Ivanishvili's arrival he switched to selling computers,,. In 1990, Ivanishvili received the status of co-founder of Agroprogress; by this time, the company of Malkin and Ivanishvili was already one of the largest sellers of electronic equipment and even owned a factory for the production of push-button phones and cassette recorders in China,.

In 1990, Ivanishvili, Malkin and Mosin founded the Russian Credit Bank,,,. After Ivanishvili bought Mosin's share, he had 67 percent of the bank's shares, the remaining 33 percent belonged to Malkin,. Ivanishvili became president of Russian Credit,,, (according to other sources, he took the position of deputy chairman of the board - president). In 1992, he joined the board of directors of JSCB MarkPolBank,,, and in 1993 Ivanishvili and Malkin established Impexbank,. Developing banking, Ivanishvili also created the first banking college in Russia, in which he even lectured himself.

In 1993, Ivanishvili's brother was kidnapped in Georgia. The kidnappers demanded a ransom from the businessman for his brother, but he refused them, so as not to endanger his other relatives in the same way. It is known that Ivanishvili's brother was helped to rescue Vladimir Rushailo, who at that time headed the regional department for combating organized crime (RUBOP) of the Moscow Main Department of Internal Affairs, and later headed the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia,. In the same year, on the initiative of Ivanishvili, a certain structure was created under the RUBOP, initially financed by the Russian Credit and providing assistance to him,. It was noted that in order to cooperate with the RUBOP, a public charitable foundation "Promoting the social protection of professional high-risk groups" was created. According to media reports, donations to it were made not only by Rossiyskiy Kredit, but also by many other large banks and companies. In 1997, however, this cooperation was terminated: according to Ivanishvili, the bank's management chose to distance itself from the fund, since "RUOP, instead of working with debtors who did not repay loans, began to take donations from them as well",. In September 1994, Ivanishvili, for security reasons, "decided to formally move away from the bank" and announced that he was resigning as president of Russian Credit, (Malkin, who previously held the post of chairman of the board, became president of the bank instead). Formally, Ivanishvili's resignation was associated with the fact that he received the post of vice president of a certain international charitable foundation "Rapid Response Corps" of Georgia, which set as its tasks the expansion of international relations, the restoration of the national economy and the stabilization of the political situation in Georgia. In the same year, Ivanishvili left with his family for the United States, where he lived with friends for six months. Then the businessman moved to France,,,, where he bought a house near Paris,.

In 1995, Ivanishvili returned to Russia and became the first vice-president of the Russian Credit Bank,. In addition, in May 1995, the entrepreneur received a position CEO LLP "Infintrade"; in the same period, he became the founder of Triada-1 LLP, which owned a stake in the Lebedinsky Mining and Processing Plant (GOK),,.

In the mid-1990s, Russian Credit made active investments in various enterprises. In particular, Ivanishvili was actually a co-owner of the Krasnoyarsk aluminum plant (whose shares he sold in 1996 under pressure from other co-owners), Lebedinsky, Stoilensky and Mikhailovsky GOKs, Tulachermet, Orlovsky steel-rolling plant, hotels, RTI-Kauchuk,,. In addition, Ivanishvili was engaged in real estate: in 1993, when entrepreneur Arkady Gaydamak, who was credited in Roscred against the security of shares in Moscow hotels Minsk and Tsentralnaya, stopped servicing loans, Ivanishvili gained control over hotels,. In 1997 (according to other sources, in 1998), Ivanishvili organized the Metalloinvest holding company, which managed his industrial assets and real estate,,,. At the same time, it is known that during this period, Rossiyskiy Kredit often participated in loans-for-shares auctions - not to obtain assets, but in order to prevent competitors from strengthening.

Before the 1996 presidential election, Ivanishvili supported one of the candidates - General Alexander Lebed, who, after losing in the first round, supported President Boris Yeltsin, who ran for a second term. According to Ivanishvili, this was the only time he "participated in politics", although he noted that later, when Lebed became the governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory (1998), "from old memory he helped him with personnel",.

Rossiyskiy Kredit Bank was significantly affected by the economic default of 1998, when it incurred debts of approximately one billion dollars , , . However, Ivanishvili refused to declare bankruptcy of the bank and carried out its restructuring, for which he was forced to sell a number of assets, including shares that allowed him to control Lebedinsky GOK, Orlovsky Steel Rolling Plant and Tulachermet,.

In 2000, Ivanishvili was appointed First Deputy General Director of OAO Stoilensky GOK,,. In the same year, he founded the Stoilenskaya Niva agro-industrial corporation, which united more than thirty enterprises and a number of infrastructure facilities in Belgorod, Voronezh, Kursk and Smolensk regions, and in 2002 he opened a network of pharmacies "Doctor Stoletov",,. In November 2003, Ivanishvili joined the board of directors of OAO KB Impexbank (remained in its composition until May 2006,).

In November 2003, as a result of the Rose Revolution, Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze was removed from power, and in January 2004 Mikhail Saakashvili was elected the new president. In the same year, Ivanishvili returned to Georgia and settled in his native village, where he built a new house next to his parents and created a private reserve. After Ivanishvili moved to Georgia in July 2004, Saakashvili personally granted him Georgian citizenship,. According to some reports, in the same year, the entrepreneur also received French citizenship, in connection with which, in accordance with Georgian legislation, he lost Georgian citizenship, but in 2005 it was returned to him again; according to other information French citizenship Ivanishvili received only in 2010. Ivanishvili, according to his assurances, did not visit Russia after moving to Georgia.

In 2004, Ivanishvili's asset management functions were transferred to the Unicor management company,. Then the entrepreneur sold Stoilensky GOK to the structures of Vladimir Lisin, later - Mikhailovsky GOK and Tulachermet to Vasily Anisimov and Alisher Usmanov, earning more than $ 2.5 billion on this,,,,. In 2005, Ivanishvili stepped down as first vice president of Russian Credit, although he remained on its board of directors. In early 2006, Ivanishvili and Malkin also sold Impexbank - it was acquired by the Raiffeisen International group for $ 550 million,,. In the same year, Ivanishvili transferred to Malkin his 28.5 percent stake in the East Siberian Oil and Gas Company. In 2007, a Georgian businessman sold a 78 percent stake in the Voronezh plant to OAO Tyazhmekhpress for $20 million and a large Voronezh transport company, Center Ore Transportation LLC, for more than $250 million.

Among the Russian assets of Ivanishvili, the Ural plant of rubber products was also mentioned, Insurance Company"RK-Garant", non-state pension fund "Promagrofond" and plant "RTI-Kauchuk". AT different time it was also reported that Ivanishvili owned one percent of the shares of Gazprom, Lukoil, RAO UES of Russia (ceased to exist in 2008), small stakes in MTS, VimpelCom and Surgutneftegaz,,,. Ivanishvili also owned large development projects, including in Moscow (construction of the multifunctional residential and office complex Garden Quarters in the Khamovniki district on the site of the Kauchuk plant, the construction of the Summit multifunctional complex on the site of the Minsk hotel, the reconstruction of the Tsentralnaya ") , , , .

In Georgia itself, Ivanishvili has had a number of assets since the 1990s. From the second half of the 1990s until the spring of 2004, he owned the decimeter television Channel Nine, which worked in Tbilisi (after Saakashvili came to power, the businessman handed over the channel to the Georgian authorities, after which his broadcast was interrupted). Among the assets of Ivanishvili, the financial-industrial group Kartu Group, created in 1995, was also mentioned. In the mid-2000s, it included, in particular, the large food company Tolia (Chaika), Bank Cartu, as well as agricultural and construction companies. Ivanishvili owned the largest wine cellar in Georgia, more than 300 hectares of vineyards, a large plot of land in the Bakuriani ski resort, where the Bakuriani-2 ski complex was being built,. Ivanishvili himself also said that after returning to Georgia, he was actively involved in the restoration Agriculture country, for which he created a non-entrepreneurial entity"Agro - National Center for the Production of Vine and Fruit Plant Materials". The media also wrote that the entrepreneur is the owner of the Kvavilnari resort area on the Black Sea coast. Back in 2005, Ivanishvili spoke about his intention to sell his entire business in Georgia - with the exception of the Kartu bank; meanwhile, in 2011, representatives of Kartu Group stated that the businessman did not conduct any commercial activities in the country and was engaged only in charity.

Ivanishvili was actively involved in charity work in Georgia, investing significant amounts in his native region, financially supporting the activities of cultural sites and infrastructure. The Ivanishvili Charitable Foundation also ensured the reconstruction and repair of the Tbilisi State Concert Hall, the restoration of more than two hundred churches, and the rehabilitation of the Batumi Dolphinarium. Ivanishvili invested about $20 million in the construction of the Tsitsinatela children's center in the Kobuleti region and over $30 million in the construction of the main cathedral"Sameba" ("Trinity") in Tbilisi,,. Regarding a number of objects built with his money, Ivanishvili insisted that they remain in state ownership, which contradicted, in particular, the policy of Kakha Bendukidze, who led the development of the Georgian economy in the 2000s.

According to some reports, in the mid-2000s, Ivanishvili provided financial support to the Saakashvili administration,,. According to former minister defense of Georgia Irakli Okruashvili, made by him after emigrating to France in 2008, in 2004 Ivanishvili "at the request of the leadership of Georgia" partially financed the "orange revolution" in Ukraine, as a result of which Viktor Yushchenko and Yulia Tymoshenko came to power. At the same time, the businessman, according to Okruashvili, "could not know what exactly he was giving money for, he was simply asked." Ivanishvili himself for a long time denied information about the support of the authorities, stating that he was and remains out of politics, "although, living in Georgia, this is not easy," . Despite this, in late 2007, businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili and opposition leaders considered running Ivanishvili against Saakashvili in the then-scheduled presidential election; in addition, the opposition faction "Our Georgia" was associated with him. Subsequently, Ivanishvili also said that he met with Saakashvili during these years and once even dissuaded the president from conducting a military operation in South Ossetia - a year and a half before the armed conflict in the republic that occurred in August 2008. In 2011, Ivanishvili admitted that he financed the Saakashvili government: it was the financial support from the businessman that was decisive - although the public at that time believed that the United States provided the main financial assistance to the Georgian authorities.

In January 2011, there were reports in the press that Ivanishvili hastily removed his family from Georgia. According to some reports, shortly before this, President Saakashvili demanded that the businessman provide financial assistance in the amount of $1.5 billion, but Ivanishvili refused. At the same time, "Map of Groups" denied such reports. On October 7, 2011, Ivanishvili announced his intention to create his own political party, in opposition to Saakashvili. At the same time, he said that he was going to renounce the citizenship of Russia and France and sell his Russian assets,,,,,,,. Four days after Ivanishvili's statement about going into politics, the Georgian authorities announced the deprivation of his Georgian citizenship - due to the fact that he had previously received French citizenship,,. At the end of December 2011, Ivanishvili was also deprived of Russian citizenship - on the basis of his own application, filed in October of the same year.

In December 2011, Ivanishvili announced the creation of the Georgian Dream movement. The partners of the movement were the opposition Republican Party, led by David Usupashvili and the Our Georgia - Free Democrats party, led by Irakli Alasania,. On April 21, the founding congress of Ivanishvili's party, called "Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia", was held. Due to the billionaire's lack of Georgian citizenship, the party was temporarily headed by lawyer Manana Kobakhidze, (although earlier it was reported that there was an intention to appoint Ivanishvili's wife Ekaterina Khvedelidze as the head of the party). Already in next month"Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia" received official registration in the Ministry of Justice of the Republic. In May 2012, amendments to the constitution were adopted that allowed EU members born in Georgia and living in this country for the past 5 years to participate in elections, but Ivanishvili did not use the right granted to him and did not personally be elected to parliament,.

On May 1, 2012, Channel Nine television resumed its work, which, according to experts, was supposed to reflect Ivanishvili's political interests. At the same time, the wife of the banker was called the main owner of the channel,.

In May 2012, Unicor signed an agreement to sell Russian Credit Bank for $352 million to a group of businessmen, including Georgy Gens, Boris Pastukhov, Boris Khait, Viktor Lukoyanov, Anatoly Motylev and Vladimir Faerovich,. In the same month, Doctor Stoletov pharmacies were sold to the St. Petersburg pharmaceutical distributor Empire-Pharma, which, according to some sources, belonged to the son of Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko, Sergey; the transaction amount was estimated at 60-70 million dollars. After the deal, Ivanishvili announced that he intended to get rid of all his Russian assets by the end of May 2012,. In September 2012, Ivanishvili sold his last Russian asset, the agro-industrial corporation Stoilenskaya Niva. The buyer was the American investment fund Arco International Group, the deal amounted to $180 million.

In June 2012, the Control Chamber of Georgia accused Ivanishvili of using illegal schemes to finance the election campaign of the Georgian Dream. In connection with the violations on June 11, the Tbilisi City Court issued record fines to Ivanishvili. According to the court decisions, the billionaire had to pay about 127.2 million lari ($78 million) for the mass distribution of satellite dishes by the company "Global Contact Consulting" ("Global TV"), co-owned by his brother, and providing this company with 28 cars " at a price below market value. In addition, Ivanishvili had to pay a fine of 22.5 million lari ($14 million) for the fact that the cars owned by his companies served the Georgian Dream party almost free of charge,. Just four days later, the Tbilisi Court of Appeal reduced these fines to 63 million lari and 11 million lari, respectively (totaling about $45 million). On August 10, 2012, the Tbilisi City Court fined Ivanishvili another 20 million lari (about $12 million). According to the state audit service, he cashed out more than 5 million lari (about $3 million) "without specifying the purpose of this money," . All the money paid by the politician as a fine for illegal campaign financing was returned to Ivanishvili in November 2012 after his appointment as Prime Minister of Georgia.

On October 1, 2012, parliamentary elections were held in Georgia, in which Georgian Dream won the majority of votes, more than 55 percent in the proportional system and won 38 out of 73 seats in single-mandate constituencies; at the same time, the United National Movement, which was in power, received about 40 percent of the vote and won in 35 single-mandate constituencies. After the elections, Ivanishvili announced his intention to head the government (as the media noted, with the entry into force after the presidential elections in 2013 of amendments to the constitution, which turned Georgia into a parliamentary republic, it was the prime minister who became the main figure in political life countries ). Saakashvili, in turn, after the elections announced the transition of his party to the opposition,,.

On October 16, it became known that President Saakashvili, by his decree, restored Ivanishvili to citizenship of Georgia,. The next day, Saakashvili introduced Ivanishvili's candidacy to parliament for the post of prime minister of the country,.

On October 25, the new parliament approved Ivanishvili as prime minister. The day before, he said in an interview that he intended to leave politics in a year and a half, and then become "one of the active members of the civil sector."

On November 2, 2012, Ivanishvili demanded that Saakashvili leave the presidential palace, because, in his opinion, its maintenance was too expensive for the Georgian budget. However, Saakashvili's spokesman responded by saying that the residence does not belong to Saakashvili, but is a building intended for the work of the president.

According to Forbes magazine, in March 2012, Ivanishvili's fortune was $6.4 billion. At the same time, he was named the richest man in Georgia.

In 2000, Ivanishvili received the status of Honorary Consul of San Marino in Georgia,.

Before going into politics, Ivanishvili was described as one of "the most mysterious Russian entrepreneurs." The businessman himself said that he did not like to participate in public events and did not even celebrate his birthdays. However, in 2011, in an interview with the English newspaper Sunday Telegraph, Ivanishvili said that he considered it necessary to "leave his cocoon" in order to save his homeland "from a creeping dictatorship."

In 2005, Ivanishvili described himself as a materialist and reported that he did not believe in an afterlife. Nevertheless, after his conflict with the Georgian authorities, he was supported by the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II: at the service in the Trinity Cathedral, the primate of the church "publicly expressed the hope that President Mikheil Saakashvili would restore Ivanishvili's Georgian citizenship."

Ivanishvili owns a large collection of paintings and sculptures, including, in particular, works by Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Egon Schille, Damien Hirst and Roy Lichtenstein,,. The businessman told about his intention to open his own museum in Georgia in the future, where his collection of works of art would be demonstrated,. Ivanishvili's favorite Georgian writers are Vazha Pshavela and Chabua Amrejibi; the businessman singled out Alexander Dumas among foreign writers. Ivanishvili's hobbies include singing, playing backgammon and chess. It was noted that he is not engaged in hunting and fishing, because he "loves nature very much."

At the age of 35, Ivanishvili married nineteen-year-old Ekaterina (Eka) Khvedelidze. They have four children: sons Uta, Bera and Tsotne and daughter Gvantsa. Ivanishvili's wife and children were reported to have French citizenship.

Used materials

Natalia Smolnikova. The Prime Minister of Georgia was returned the amount of the fine he paid. - RIA News, 05.11.2012

M. Saakashvili refused to leave the presidential palace. - RBC, 02.11.2012

Bidzina Ivanishvili became the prime minister of Georgia. - RBC, 25.10.2012

Magi Kikaleishvili. Ivanishvili confirmed that he would leave politics in a year and a half. - RIA News, 24.10.2012

Ivanishvili's candidacy has been submitted to the Georgian parliament for approval as prime minister. - Radio Liberty, 17.10.2012

Magi Kikaleishvili. Saakashvili introduced Ivanishvili's candidacy for the post of prime minister to parliament. - RIA News, 17.10.2012

Mikheil Saakashvili returned Georgian citizenship to Ivanishvili. - Interfax, 16.10.2012

Saakashvili granted Ivanishvili citizenship of Georgia. - Georgia Online, 16.10.2012

Bidzina Ivanishvili: I will definitely be the Prime Minister of Georgia, but we don't know anything further. - GHN, 03.10.2012

Georgian President Saakashvili announced that his party had gone into opposition. - RIA News, 02.10.2012

Ivanishvili's bloc wins over 55% after counting 94.05% of votes - CEC. - RIA News, 02.10.2012

Javier Pes. Billionaire art collector set to be next Georgian prime minister. - The Art Newspaper, 02.10.2012

Prime Minister of Georgia, leader of the Georgian Dream party

Prime Minister of Georgia since October 2012; In 2011, he announced his intention to engage in political activities, founded the Georgian Dream electoral bloc, which won the 2012 parliamentary elections. Prior to that, he was known as an entrepreneur, according to Forbes magazine (March 2012) - the richest man in Georgia. The owner of the Georgian bank "Cartu", until 2012, was the owner of many assets in Russia, including the bank "Russian Credit" and the network of pharmacies "Doctor Stoletov". Mentioned in the media as one of the main sponsors of the reforms carried out by the government of Mikheil Saakashvili. Candidate of Economic Sciences.

Bidzina (Boris) Grigoryevich Ivanishvili was born on February 18, 1956 in the village of Chorvila, Sachkhere District, Georgian SSR.

In 1978 or, according to other sources, in 1980, Ivanishvili graduated with honors from the Faculty of Engineering and Economics of Tbilisi State University. In his student years, he worked at the Kamo Casting and Mechanical Plant - he was a cleaner, an auxiliary worker, a grinder, after receiving higher education continued to work at the same enterprise: he was a senior engineer, and then head of the laboratory for the scientific organization of labor.

In 1982-1986, Ivanishvili was a postgraduate student at the Research Institute of Labor and Social Issues in Moscow. In 1986, he defended his thesis on scientific organization and labor economics, becoming a candidate of economic sciences.

In 1986, Ivanishvili returned to Tbilisi and got a job as a senior researcher at the local branch of the Research Institute of Labor. In 1987, he registered his own cooperative, engaged in the sale of computers. After the first major deal, the Georgian prosecutor's office arrested Ivanishvili's accounts, and he moved to Moscow.

In 1988-1990, Ivanishvili was the deputy head of the department of the All-Union Center for Commercial Information (VTsKI) of the Federation of Non-Professional Cinematographers of the Society of Cinema Friends. At the same time, he worked in the Agroprogress cooperative, which sold electronics. In two years, the cooperative became "one of the country's largest companies selling electronic equipment": it even owned a factory for the production of push-button telephones and cassette recorders, located in China.

In 1990, Ivanishvili, together with Agroprogress partners Vitaly Malkin and Sergey Mosin, became one of the founders of the Russian Credit Bank; after Ivanishvili bought Mosin's stake, his stake in the bank was 67 percent. The bank rather soon "acquired an extensive branch network and became a major player in the gold market, as well as in the export of non-ferrous and precious metals." In 1990-1994, Ivanishvili was the president of Russian Credit, in 1995-2005 - its vice-president, and later - a member of the board of directors. In 2012, Ivanishvili sold the Russian Credit Bank to a group of Russian businessmen. In 1992, Ivanishvili also joined the board of directors of JSCB MarkPolBank, and in 1993, together with Malkin, he acted as a co-founder of Impexbank. In 2003, Ivanishvili joined the board of directors of Impexbank and remained on it until the sale of the bank to the Raiffeisen International group in 2006.

Since the 1990s, Ivanishvili has also acted as a co-owner of a number of mining and processing plants (GOKs) - Lebedinsky, Stoilensky and Mikhailovsky; in the early 2000s, he was the first deputy general director of OAO Stoilensky GOK. The businessman sold his share in the plants in 2000 and 2004. In addition, Ivanishvili was also called in the press the owner - or co-owner - of large enterprises, including Tulachermet, the Orlovsky steel-rolling plant, as well as the Moscow hotels Minsk and Tsentralnaya. In 2000, Ivanishvili founded the agro-industrial corporation "Stoilenskaya Niva", in 2002 he opened a network of pharmacies "Doctor Stoletov". Among Ivanishvili's Russian assets, the Ural Rubber Products Plant, the RK-Garant insurance company, the non-state pension fund Promagrofond, the RTI-Kauchuk plant, as well as large development projects were also mentioned. To manage industrial assets and real estate, Ivanishvili organized the Metalloinvest holding company in 1997. In 2004, Ivanishvili's asset management functions were transferred to the Unicor management company.

In 2004, shortly after the election of Mikheil Saakashvili as President of Georgia, Ivanishvili returned to his homeland and settled in his native village. In the same year he received Georgian citizenship. In Georgia, Ivanishvili was actively involved in charity work and provided financial support to the Saakashvili administration. Since the 1990s, the businessman has had a number of assets in the country. In the mid-2000s, the financial and industrial group Kartu Group belonging to him, which was established in 1995, included, in particular, the large food company Tolia (Chaika), the Kartu Bank, agricultural and construction companies. At the same time, however, back in 2005, Ivanishvili spoke about his intention to sell all his business in Georgia, with the exception of the Kartu bank, and in 2011, representatives of the Kartu Group stated that the group did not conduct commercial activities - with the exception of the functioning of the bank - and was only involved in charity work.

In 2011, relations between Ivanishvili and Saakashvili worsened. In October of the same year, the businessman announced his intention to create his own political party, in opposition to Saakashvili. At the same time, he said that he was going to renounce the citizenship of Russia and France and sell off his Russian assets. Four days after Ivanishvili's announcement that he was going into politics, the Georgian authorities announced that the businessman had been stripped of his Georgian citizenship due to his French and Russian passports. At the end of December 2011, Ivanishvili was also deprived of Russian citizenship - on the basis of his own application.

In December 2011, Ivanishvili announced the creation of the Georgian Dream movement. In April 2012, the Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia party was established by the billionaire, which was temporarily headed by lawyer Manana Kobakhidze.

In May 2012, Ivanishvili announced the sale of the Russian Credit Bank and the Doctor Stoletov pharmacy chain. After these transactions, the businessman announced that he intended to get rid of the rest of his Russian assets by the end of the month. Ivanishvili sold his last Russian asset, the Stoilenskaya Niva agricultural holding, in September 2012.

On October 1, 2012, parliamentary elections were held in Georgia, in which Georgian Dream won the majority of votes, according to preliminary data, almost 55 percent. In the same month, Georgian citizenship was returned to Ivanishvili by order of President Saakashvili. On October 25, the new parliament approved him for the post of Prime Minister of Georgia.

According to Forbes magazine, as of March 2012, Ivanishvili's fortune was $6.4 billion (153rd place). At the same time, he was named the richest man in Georgia.

Ivanishvili is married and has three sons and a daughter. It was reported that both the wife and children of Ivanishvili were citizens of France.

The future ruler of Georgia (the chances are high) Bidzina Ivanishvili quickly broke into the international political arena but little is known about him. "Interlocutor" fills in the gap.

The Invisible Rich Man

Literally until recently, the winner of the recent parliamentary elections in Georgia was practically unknown to anyone: he gave only one interview, and only two of his photographs could be found in the public domain.

Meanwhile Bidzina Ivanishvili he is rightly called “the richest Georgian in the world”: his personal fortune, according to Forbes magazine, is $7 billion, which is more than the entire budget of Georgia.

However, in last years the entrepreneur sold almost all his assets (most of them in Russia) and practically led the life of a recluse in his rock-cut mansion in his native village of Chorvila, categorically refusing all invitations to enter politics.

“I will never get into politics,” Forbes magazine quoted the businessman as saying. And in 2008, after Saakashvili announced early elections, Ivanishvili generally interrupted all external contacts for a whole month - he even, as he says, did not leave his home. However, his home is also a state within a state: family, relatives, friends and servants - about 200 people often live on the Ivanishvili estate at the same time.

But in 2012, the entrepreneur suddenly held a press conference and announced his intention to participate in the elections.

The next day in Georgia they were talking about this event. We discussed Ivanishvili's apartments, located in the most unusual building in Tbilisi - in fact, this is a huge futuristic castle made of glass and metal, created by a visiting Japanese architect and able to withstand any threats up to nuclear war. The staff greets guests with a joke in which there is some truth: "Welcome to the house of James Bond." And the owner of the castle himself is similar in appearance to the actors from the Bond movies - smartness, impeccable costumes, laconicism and a steely look.

Today, Georgians are struggling to unravel his "legend", wondering who he is, Mr. Ivanishvili: Putin's agent, a protege of Georgian criminals or a new US political project?

Philanthropist

Most of all, Ivanishvili is known in his homeland - in the village of Chorvila. It was from here, from a provincial and poor region of Georgia, that Bidzina left for Tbilisi to study at the university. Local residents still say that the parents of the future businessman, visiting their son, almost dragged him back home by force, where he would have to work in the mine, like his father.

To feed himself, the half-starved student worked first as a cleaner, then as a grinder.

In the 2000s, a native of a poor family returned to his native village as a super-rich man and built real communism in his native village, taking on the utility bills of his fellow villagers and assigning them personal allowances for salaries and pensions.

When Ivanishvili also invested his personal funds in roads, infrastructure and engineering networks, he became something like a deity for his fellow countrymen. And when the neighboring provinces started talking about the eccentric philanthropist, the Georgian authorities even had to adopt a special law prohibiting charity for political purposes.

Between the imperceptible departure and Ivanishvili's triumphant return, there were many events, and most of them took place in Russia, where back in the 80s an excellent student was sent for knowledge to the graduate school of the Moscow Institute of Labor. In the Russian capital, Bidzin's name quickly transformed into Boris.

- They didn’t call me as soon as - both Buzina and Benzinna, until the head of the graduate school waved her hand, saying that she would call me Boris, - Ivanishvili himself later said. Russian name, the Russian period of life and even the Russian root of the surname - IVANishvili - all this is now often reproached by politicians at home.

In Moscow, the graduate student met the future member of the “seven bankers” (a group of 7 all-powerful bankers under Yeltsin) Vitaly Malkin, and then a simple graduate student. Two graduate students set up their own firm to trade in computers supplied by Ivanishvili's Tbilisi acquaintances from Israel.

The business began in a rented room in a three-room apartment, where the out-of-town Ivanishvili lived at first. The business turned out to be so timely and profitable that since then Ivanishvili has been under suspicion of having links with Georgian thieves in law, who allegedly provided him with patronage.

“In the 90s, it was impossible to make serious money and not come into contact with criminal elements,” the businessman’s entourage commented evasively. According to rumors, in the 90s, a novice businessman was even arrested for one of the transactions, and he left the detention center with new connections (Georgian thieves were in charge of protecting business in Russia) and with a desire to never again fall into the bottom of life. And so far he succeeds.

Soon, partners Ivanishvili and Malkin grew up to open their own bank, Russian Credit, whose branches until recently worked throughout the country. On their own or at the prompt, but businessmen made the right bet here too - on currency exchange: Roscredit had the largest volumes of cash currency in Moscow. Ivanishvili began to invest the money he earned in industry, acquiring mining and metallurgical enterprises.

Bidzina Ivanishvili participated in the famous "aluminum wars" of the 90s and turned out to be almost the only one who got out of them without losses and even with a profit: other heroes of this story in the spirit of the "dashing 90s" were killed (Oleg Kantor), got into prison (Anatoly Bykov) or are still hiding abroad (Lev and Mikhail Cherny).

Brother for brother

But it cannot be said that the showdowns of the gangster decade completely bypassed Ivanishvili: in 1993, his brother was kidnapped and demanded a ransom. The businessman refused to pay, so as not to endanger other relatives in the future, and turned to the then head of the RUBOP, Vladimir Rushailo. The case ended successfully, and for help in the family business, Ivanishvili then created a charitable foundation for interaction with the RUBOP, which the press later dubbed "the police roof."

Shortly after the kidnapping of his brother, the businessman resigned as president of the bank and went to live in the United States, and then in the French St. Tropez - the business empire was already working on its own.

They say Ivanishvili helped his current rival during the elections Mikhail Saakashvili and invested heavily in the construction of new and restoration of old buildings in Georgia.

Patronage, family (Ivanishvili has four children), yoga classes, passion for painting (a businessman who frequents the Sotheby and Christie auctions and owns a $100 million Picasso painting) - Ivanishvili himself admitted that he had created an ultra-comfortable cocoon for himself, in which he stayed until 2011. There was a place in it for a personal zoo and a nature reserve, where even a flock of penguins registered.

The “interlocutor” was told a story: one bird from the flock died because it choked on a swallow. Ivanishvili scolded the manager of his personal zoo:

- Well, what did the swallow do in the throat of a penguin ?!

– And what are the penguins doing in Chorvil?! the subordinate snapped.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Ivanishvili said he had to get out of his cocoon to prevent the country from sliding into a dictatorship under Saakashvili's leadership.

Georgia rejoices, perceiving Ivanishvili as fairy tale hero, which, as if by magic, grow dolphinariums, museums, theaters, and penguins take root in the southern climate.

"Georgian Dream" - this is how Ivanishvili called his party - it looks like an American one.

Only with its own, Georgian, flavor.

Ivanishvili Bidzina (Boris) Grigorievich

Georgian political and statesman, Prime Minister of Georgia from October 25, 2012 to November 20, 2013. Entrepreneur, billionaire, owner of the Unicor group. Leader of the non-governmental organization "Citizen".

General information

Bidzina Ivanishvili was born on February 18, 1956 in the village of Chorvila (near the town of Chiaturi) of the Sachkhere region of the Georgian SSR in the family of a miner who worked at the Chiaturmarganets plant.

Bidzana Ivanishvili is married to Ekaterina (Eka) Khvedelidze and has four children (three sons, one daughter).

Education and professional career

In 1978, Bidzina Ivanishvili graduated with honors from the Faculty of Engineering and Economics of the Tbilisi State University named after Ivane Javakhishvili. In 1982, Ivanishvili entered, and in 1986 he graduated from, postgraduate studies at the Research Institute of Labor in Moscow, where he defended his dissertation for the degree of Candidate of Economic Sciences.

From 1973 to 1978, he worked as a cleaner, auxiliary worker, grinder at the Kamo Tbilisi Casting and Mechanical Plant.

In 1978 - 1982, having received a university degree, he continued to work at the same plant, but already as a senior engineer, head of the laboratory for the scientific organization of labor.

During the postgraduate years, he also worked as a junior researcher at the Moscow Research Institute of Labor, where, after graduating in 1987, he took the position of a senior researcher at the institute.

Commercial activity in Russia

In the late 1980s, B. Ivanishvili created a cooperative for the production of reinforced hoses at the Kamo Casting and Mechanical Plant. However, the cooperative did not start producing hoses, deciding that it would be more profitable to engage in trade in computers and office equipment.

Therefore, in 1987, B. Ivanishvili founded a cooperative in Georgia to sell computers, but after a conflict with employees of the Prosecutor's Office of the GSSR, he was forced to move to Moscow, where, while still a graduate student, he met his future partner Vitaly Malkin. Malkin had comrades from the railway institute, associate professors Sergei Mosin and Alexander Bryantsev, the owners of the Agroprogress cooperative, which was engaged in the construction of greenhouses in Naro-Fominsk. They also joined the trade in office equipment and electronics, and Bidzina Ivanishvili became one of the co-founders of Agroprogress.

From 1988 to 1990, Ivanishvili served as deputy head of the department of the All-Union Center for Commercial Information (VTsKI) of the Federation of Non-Professional Cinematographers of the Society of Cinema Friends (Moscow).

By 1990, B. Ivanishvili's company for the sale of electronic equipment had become one of the largest in the country, and in the same year, Ivanishvili, with partners Malkin and Mosin, founded the Russian Credit Bank. Bidzina Ivanishvili took the post of President (according to other sources - Deputy Chairman of the Board - President) and a member of the Board of Directors. The partners received equal shares in the capital of the bank. Later, B. Ivanishvili bought S. Mosin's share, concentrating 67% of the bank's shares in his own hands, while his partner V. Malkin retained 33%. Vitaly Malkin dealt with organizational issues, performed representative functions. Ivanishvili took over the direct management of the bank, the formation of a strategy for its development and functioning, and the personnel policy.

In 1992, Bidzina Ivanishvili became a member of the Board of Directors of JSCB "MarkPolBank" (Moscow).

In 1993, B. Ivanishvili (67% of shares) together with V. Malkin (33% of shares) established "Impexbank".

In 1994, Ivanishvili left for the United States, then to France, where he purchased real estate.

At the head of the bank "Russian Credit"

From 1994 to the present, Bidzina Ivanishvili has been the First Vice President of the Russian Credit Bank.

According to B. Ivanishvili himself (in a Newsru.com publication), he never followed the lead of bandits and racketeers, he collaborated with law enforcement. In 1993, at the initiative of Ivanishvili and with the help of the head of the RUBOP, Vladimir Rushailo, a structure was created under the RUBOP, which was financed by the Russian Credit Bank, and later by other large commercial structures. Its employees came by one call, and for a long time this structure worked effectively. However, in 1997, the bankers were faced with the problem of non-repayment of loans, and, instead of helping them, its employees began to take bribes from debtors. This ended the collaboration.

In August 1998, Rossiyskiy Kredit fell into plight- the bank's debts exceeded $1 billion, the bank had significant investments in Russian government securities, which suffered the most from the default. Russian Credit came under the control of the Agency for the Restructuring of Credit Institutions, in 2000 an amicable agreement was concluded with creditors. In 2000, businessman Arkady Gaydamak, who is now suspected by the Israeli authorities of money laundering through the Hapoalim bank, temporarily took over as chairman of the bank's board of directors. According to Ivanishvili, Gaydamak expressed his readiness to buy a 25% stake in the bank for $200 million. At that time, the bank was in dire need of cash, but the deal did not go through.

Financial activities

In May 1995, Bidzina Ivanishvili became the General Director of Infintrade LLP. B.Ivanishvili was also the founder of Triada-1 LLP, which owned a stake in Lebedinsky GOK JSC.

In 1997, B. Ivanishvili created the holding company "Metalloinvest" to manage industrial assets and real estate.

In 2000, Bidzina Ivanishvili became the first deputy general director of OAO Stoilensky GOK. In the same year, Ivanishvili received the status of Honorary Consul of San Marino in Georgia.

In 2002, B.Ivanishvili created a network of pharmacies "Doctor Stoletov".

From November 2003 to May 2006, Bidzina Ivanishvili served as a member of the Board of Directors of OJSC CB "Impexbank".

In 2004, after the Rose Revolution, he moved to live in his native village in Georgia. In the same year, asset management functions were transferred to Unicor Management Company.

In 2004-2005, Ivanishvili and Malkin sold all their metallurgical assets for $2.2 billion: in 2004, Bidzina Ivanishvili sold Stoilensky Mining and Processing Plant, Russia's third largest mining and processing plant (GOK), to the structures of the owner of the Novolipetsk Iron and Steel Works, Vladimir Lisin, and in early 2005 - 97% of the shares of Mikhailovsky GOK to Vasily Anisimov and Alisher Usmanov.

At the beginning of 2005, Ivanishvili owned 67% of the shares of Russian Credit and Impexbank, 100% of the Interfin Trade company and the Unicor management company. He owned almost 100% of the shares of enterprises controlled by Unicor - the Stoilenskaya Niva agricultural corporation, Tyazhmekhpress, RTI-Kauchuk, the Ural Rubber Products Plant, Erkapharma, the RK-Garant insurance company, hotels "Minsk" and "Central", the transport company "Center of Ore Transportation", 28.5% of the shares of the East Siberian Oil and Gas Company.

In early 2006, the Raiffeisen International Group acquired Impexbank from Bidzina Ivanishvili and Vitaly Malkin for $550 million.

Political activity

In 1996, Bidzina Ivanishvili took an active part in financing and organizing the election campaign of Alexander Lebed. The campaign headquarters of A. Lebed was located in the office of a bank owned by Ivanishvili. Also, Ivanishvili, according to him, "out of old memory" helped Lebed with personnel when he was elected to the post of governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, but did not directly finance it.

In the spring of 2008 B. Ivanishvili found himself at the center of a scandal related to the financing of the "orange revolution" in Ukraine. Former Minister of Defense of Georgia, Irakli Okruashvili, while in Paris, gave an interview to the Kavkasia TV company, in which he stated that the "orange revolution" was partially financed by Bidzina Ivanishvili. According to Okruashvili, the money was transferred to the organizers of the revolution by the Georgian authorities, and Ivanishvili himself might not be aware of the purpose of their appointment. Okruashvili said that Ivanishvili gave money to the Georgian authorities many times - in particular, financed the defense fund - and also partially financed Saakashvili's election campaign.

Ivanishvili allocated large funds to various charitable foundations, founded the charitable organization "Tanamshromloba" ("Cooperation") in his native region of Georgia and actively sponsored the construction of the main patriarchal cathedral of the Holy Trinity, spending over 30 million dollars on it.

On January 12, 2011, the Georgian news agency Pirveli reported that Bidzina Ivanishvili hastily evacuated his family and loved ones from Georgia, fearing pressure from the authorities. According to the agency, Ivanishvili stopped all activities in Georgia, where the main organization supervised by the businessman was the Kartu business holding, which includes the Kartu bank, a number of construction organizations, the Kvavilnari resort area on the Black Sea coast, as well as various firms.

On October 7, 2011, Bidzina Ivanishvili announced the creation of a new opposition political party, which will participate in the parliamentary elections in 2012. According to him, "the total monopolization of power by Mikheil Saakashvili and the constitutional changes" forced him to make such a decision.

B.Ivanishvili had the citizenship of Russia, Georgia and France. On October 11, 2011, the Civil Registry Agency of Georgia informed that Ivanishvili is no longer a Georgian citizen and, therefore, will not be able to stand as a candidate in the parliamentary elections in Georgia. Officially, the reason for depriving Ivanishvili of citizenship was the presence of Russian and French passports (according to paragraph 32 of the law "On Citizenship of Georgia", a person who has taken citizenship of another country loses citizenship of Georgia). At the end of December 2011, Bidzina Ivanishvili applied for the deprivation of Russian citizenship.

On April 21, 2012, the founding congress of Ivanishvili's party, called "Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia", was held.

On August 11, 2012, the Tbilisi City Court satisfied the petition of the State Audit Service of Georgia on Ivanishvili’s administrative and legal violations and imposed a fivefold fine of 20 million 243 thousand 827 lari (approximately $12.3 million) on him for donations to the coalition he created .

In the parliamentary elections on October 1, 2012, the Georgian Dream coalition led by Ivanishvili won the majority of votes - 54.85%.

On October 16, 2012, more than two weeks after the victory of the Georgian Dream coalition in the parliamentary elections, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili signed a decree on the restoration of the citizenship of candidate for Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili.

On October 25, the new parliament of Georgia by a majority of votes approved the composition of the government of the country, formed by the Georgian Dream coalition. Bidzina Ivanishvili, leader of the Georgian Dream, took over as Prime Minister of Georgia. 88 deputies voted "for" the government, 54 deputies voted "against".

On January 23, 2013, at the Davos Economic Forum, a short informal conversation took place between Bidzina Ivanishvili and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

On October 28, during his press conference, B. Ivanishvili confirmed his intention to resign from the post of Prime Minister of Georgia. Bidzina Ivanishvili said that he would move from politics to civil society, from the position of which he would control the activities of the authorities and, if necessary, point out their mistakes.

On November 17, 2013, immediately after the inauguration of G. Margvelashvili as president, the government of Georgia, headed by Prime Minister B. Ivanishvili, resigned in full force.

On November 24, 2013, at the congress of the Georgian Dream party, Bidzina Ivanishvili made an official statement that he would no longer be involved in politics. At the congress, Bidzina Ivanishvili proposed the candidacy of the current Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili for the post of chairman of the Georgian Dream, and for the post of general secretary of the political organization - Minister of Economy Kakha Kaladze.

In January 2014, Bidzina Ivanishvili established a new non-governmental organization "Citizen". The organization intends to address issues of strengthening civil society.

On January 28, 2014, the Supreme Court of Georgia annulled the decree of former President Mikheil Saakashvili, which stripped Bidzina Ivanishvili of Georgian citizenship.

In April 2014 Bidzina Ivanishvili sold the land plots he owned to the Co-investment Fund created with his mediation in the center of Tbilisi, intended for the construction of shopping and business centers.

March 29, 2015 at the residence former prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili took place and action-performance "We mourn the lari". Participants of the performance accused Ivanishvili of depreciating the Georgian national currency. "Lari, having lived for 22 years, died after two years of illness," Beso Shengelia, one of the organizers of the action, a representative of the non-governmental organization Apriori, said.

On October 24, 2016, the "Labor Party of Georgia" demanded that the former prime minister of Georgia be involved in criminal liability for involvement in the illegal supply of weapons to Angola at the expense of the bank "Russian credit".

Business assets of Ivanishvili

In 2004, Forbes magazine estimated Ivanishvili's fortune at $880 million. In February 2006, Finance magazine estimated Bidzina Ivanishvili's fortune at $3.7 billion (21st place in Russia), and in March 2006 Forbes at $3.9 billion. dollars (173rd place in the world). In February 2007, the Georgian Times published a list of the richest Georgians in the world. Ivanishvili took second place in it: the publication estimated his capital at about $8 billion. In 2010, according to Forbes, he ranked 22nd with a fortune of $4,800 million. In 2011, entrepreneur Bidzina Ivanishvili owns $5.5 billion, according to Forbes, and ranks 185th in the world and 24th in Russia in the general list of billionaires.

Bidzina Ivanishvili owns a large collection of paintings. The most expensive painting is "Dora Maar with a cat" by Pablo Picasso (purchased in 2006 at Sotheby's for $95 million). One of my favorite artists is Willem de Kooning.

On June 1, 2015, at Christie's auction in London, Ivanishvili purchased Niko Pirosmani's Arsenal Mountain at Night, which, according to him, will be donated to the State Museum of Arts of the country.

Notes:

1. Boris Ivanishvili, founder and owner of Russian Credit Bank // Vedomosti, 04/07/2005.
2. Did Bidzina Ivanishvili Decide to Run for President of Georgia? // New region, 22.11.2007.
3. Did Bidzina Ivanishvili Decide to Run for President of Georgia? // New region, 22.11.2007.
4. Ivanishvili, Bidzina // Lenta.ru, 2012.
5. Georgian businessman and politician Ivanishvili deprived of Russian citizenship // RIA Novosti, 12/27/2011.