Tycoon Prime Minister

Bidzina Ivanishvili holds both French and Russian citizenship, but currently, he does not have a Georgian passport. He owns a private zoo where he collects contemporary artists. Moreover, he has supplied the Georgian armed forces with both footwear and tanks. There is a lot known about the new billionaire and appointed Prime Minister of Georgia, but for many compatriots and foreign observers, Ivanishvili remains a complex figure to understand. The public information about him creates an image that vividly illustrates all possible stereotypes of a successful career in the post-Soviet era.

Ivanishvili was born in 1956 in the Imereti region, in a family of a poor miner, being the youngest of five children. He was a diligent student, graduated from school, and then from the university in Tbilisi before moving to Moscow, where his career began to develop actively. In 1990, he founded the bank "Russian Credit," and even now he owns shares in this bank. Ivanishvili's main wealth was accumulated in the metal trading and real estate sectors, which allowed him to rank 153rd on Forbes' list of the world's richest people, with an estimated net worth of about $6.4 billion (approximately €4.9 billion).

Ivanishvili owns the Mirror Palace, which stands out among the surrounding hills. According to media reports, he alternates his time between his hometown of Khorvila and the outskirts of the capital, Tbilisi, where, reportedly, his private zoo is located, home to penguins, lemurs, and zebras.

Michael Weichter from the German Friedrich Ebert Foundation notes that many Georgians have high hopes for their new Prime Minister. For them, Ivanishvili is...“a messiah who will allow them to participate in their wealth”According to Weikhter, Ivanishvili over the past ten years"has shown himself to be a prominent patron"Among his good deeds are the stoves he donated to every household in his hometown and the salary increases he provided for civil servants out of his own pocket to reduce the level of corruption.

German politicians also showed considerable interest in Ivanishvili. For example, Viola von Cramon, a representative of the Greens, describes the Georgian billionaire as“a good listener who takes criticism well”She claims that he"interested and open to dialogue"However, the story of his rise from poverty to wealth in just a few years raises questions. Most newly wealthy individuals in Russia or other post-Soviet countries are suspected of connections with criminal or corrupt political circles. However, Ivanishvili does not appear to be a typical oligarch. In an article about him titled“Good oligarch”Writer Wendell Stevenson quoted Eric Fournier, the French ambassador to Tbilisi, who calls him the only oligarch with...“clean past”.

Nevertheless, there remains a lot of uncertainty regarding Ivanishvili's status: how he earned it, who helped him, and whom he may owe. Iris Kempe, who worked at the Georgian office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, expresses skepticism: Ivanishvili is...“An enigmatic person with many unclear questions.”But people can easily be misled: he supported President Mikhail Saakashvili after the Rose Revolution. In 2008, when Saakashvili was still claiming that Ivanishvili...“No political ambitions. Not at all.”.