Who is Ivanishvili. Ivanishvili Bidzina Grigoryevich, Georgian politician and businessman: biography, personal life, fortune, property

Once a Russian businessman made his fortune by "hard work" in Russia, in the dashing 90s, he became a Georgian statesman in the new millennium. Today, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili spends the money on adding to his art collection, restoring castles and political projects in his native Georgia.

early years

Bidzina Grigoryevich Ivanishvili was born on February 18, 1956 in the small village of Chorvil. In this poor and provincial region of Soviet Georgia, his childhood passed. He was the fifth child in the family. His father worked at a local manganese mine. After graduating from school, Bidzina left for Tbilisi to enter the university.

locals they say that the parents, visiting Bidzina in the capital, almost by force tried to return their son home, where he would have one fate - work in the mine. Fortunately for the villagers, he resisted, and when he returned to his small homeland as a rich businessman, he built almost communism here. Ivanishvili compensates them utilities and pays personal supplements to pensions and salaries. Then, at his own expense, he built roads, reconstructed network engineering and infrastructure.

Education and first job

A poor family could not help the student much. Therefore, in order to get an education, Bidzina Ivanishvili had to work hard. At the local foundry and mechanical plant, he first worked as a cleaner, an auxiliary worker, then he mastered the profession of a grinder. During his student years, he lived in a hostel.

Difficulties did not prevent him from graduating with honors in 1980 from the Faculty of Engineering and Economics of Tbilisi University. After receiving higher education he continued to work at the same plant. He was promoted to the position of senior engineer, later he became the head of the laboratory for the scientific organization of labor.

After working for two years on distribution, Ivanishvili left for Moscow, where he entered the graduate school of the All-Union Research Institute of Labor and Social Issues. Soon he became Boris from Bidzina, as Ivanishvili himself recalled, his name was constantly distorted, calling both Elderberry and Gasoline. Until his supervisor waved his hand, said that he would call him Boris. Then, when he took up political activities, he was often reproached for his Russian name, the nationalists did not like the Russian root of the surname either.

First business

In 1986, he defended his Ph.D. thesis and returned to Tbilisi, where he got a job at the local branch of the Research Institute of Labor as a senior researcher.

However, the perestroika that began soon gave the active scientist new opportunities. While still in graduate school, he met the future all-powerful banker Vitaly Malkin, who under Yeltsin would become a member of the "seven bankers" (a group of 7 banks). Two graduate students organized a business selling computers, which was supplied by Bidzina Ivanishvili's Israeli acquaintances, who came from Georgia. On the very first transactions, they earned about a million rubles, as a result, the Georgian prosecutor's office became interested in them, although the beginning businessmen did nothing illegal. When his accounts were arrested, Ivanishvili decides to move to Moscow, where there are ample opportunities for doing business.

The richest Georgian

Within two years, the company of two former graduate students became the country's largest seller of electronics and even owned a tape recorder and telephone factory in China. In 1990, together with partners, the Russian Credit Bank was opened, which became the largest in Russian market gold and precious and non-ferrous metals. Later, several more banks were created. In subsequent years, Bidzina Ivanishvili sold all his shares in Russian banks.

Since the 90s, he has been the owner of stakes in the largest mining and processing plants (Lebedinsky, Stoilensky and Mikhailovsky). Shares in which he sold in 2000 and 2004. Ivanishvili is also called the owner of several enterprises in various industries, the Moscow hotels Tsentralnaya and Minsk, the agricultural company Stoilenskaya Niva. In 2005, he first entered the Forbes magazine rating with a fortune of about 3 billion US dollars.

Escape from Russia

Some sources believe that he managed to take part in the infamous "aluminum wars" in the 90s. Remaining one of the few characters who came out of them without loss. Around this period of biographies, Bidzina Ivanishvili was nicknamed "the man no one saw", due to the fact that he hardly appeared in public.

In 1993, bandits kidnapped his brother and demanded a ransom. The Georgian businessman, in order not to endanger all his loved ones in the future, refused to pay. He turned for help to the Moscow RUBOP, the head of which at that time was Vladimir Rushailo. The police coped with the task - the brother was returned. In gratitude for the help, Bidzina created a charitable foundation that provided assistance to the RUBOP, later called the "police roof". Soon after this incident, Ivanishvili left for permanent residence in the United States, then moved to St. Tropez.

Homecoming

After Mikheil Saakashvili was elected president in 2004, he returned to Georgia. He arranged a permanent residence in his native village. In the same year he received Georgian citizenship. Bidzina Ivanishvili demonstratively distanced himself from politics and actively supported the Saakashvili administration. In total, Ivanishvili spent about a billion dollars to finance the new government.

At the same time, he began to wind down his Russian business, metallurgical assets were sold to Alisher Usmanov's group. In Georgia, Ivanishvili owns the Kartu Group industrial and financial group, which included a bank, food, agricultural and construction companies. In 2011, representatives of the group stated that they were not engaged in business, but only in banking and charity.

in opposition

By 2011, relations between the country's president and the richest Georgian businessman had finally deteriorated. Bidzina Ivanishvili announced the creation of the Georgian Dream political movement and his intention to participate in the next parliamentary elections.

At the same time, he announced his intention to renounce Russian and French citizenship. At the end of 2011, he was deprived of Russian citizenship due to his voluntary refusal. However, Saakashvili's decree soon stripped him of his Georgian citizenship four months after he began his political activities. Bidzina Ivanishvili called it a massacre.

The new party began active preparations for the elections, the main slogans of the movement were promises to improve the financial situation of the population, including by reducing utility bills. Someone even started a rumor that Ivanishvili would repay all loans if he won the elections. And indeed, in the first year after coming to power, prices for gas and electricity were reduced, gasoline fell by 10-20%.

in public service

In 2012, the united opposition, which created the Georgian Dream coalition, won a crushing victory over Saakashvili's party thanks to Ivanishvili's efforts. Its leader took over as Prime Minister of Georgia. Ivanishvili, assuming this high post, said that he would leave in a year and a half, when he would create a management system that does not depend on the individual.

In 2013, he resigned, believing that he "did his job" in politics, and now he will develop civil society. Ivanishvili considers his main merit to be the eradication of elite corruption, the introduction of insurance medicine, and improvements in the education system. His opponents believe that he continues to control the government and practically rules the country informally.

He was born on February 18, 1956 in the Georgian village of Chorvila. In 1980 he graduated from Tbilisi State University. In 1982, he entered the graduate school of the Moscow Research Institute of Labor and Social Affairs. In 1986 he completed his postgraduate studies and became a candidate of economic sciences.

In Moscow, he met his future partner Vitaly Malkin. In 1987, he became a senior researcher at the branch of the Research Institute of Labor in Tbilisi, started selling computers and soon returned to Moscow.

In the period from 1988 to 1990, he was deputy head of a department at the All-Union Center for Commercial Information (VTsKI). In 1990, Malkin invited Ivanishvili to the Agroprogress cooperative, where he became a co-founder.

In the same year, the partners registered the Russian Credit Bank. Ivanishvili took over as president there. Russian Credit bought up shares of the largest mining and processing plants.

In 1992 he was a member of the Board of Directors of JSCB "MarkPolBank". In 1994 he became the first vice-president of Roscred.

In 1993, Bidzina (Boris) Ivanishvili (67%), together with Vitaly Malkin (33%), established Impexbank.

In 1997, he created the Metalloinvest holding company to manage industrial assets and real estate. In 2000 he became the first deputy CEO OAO Stoilensky GOK. In 2004, the functions of managing these assets were transferred to Unicor Management Company (the owner is Ivanishvili). In 2002, he opened a network of pharmacies "Doctor Stoletov".

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

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

Most of Ivanishvili's wealth comes from personal investments. A team of analysts works for him, but the billionaire makes the final decisions himself. He spends up to six hours a day at the Bloomberg terminal and studying analytical reports. By the beginning of the collapse of the market, he managed to greatly reduce the share of shares in his portfolio, but he could not avoid significant losses. Three years ago Ivanishvili began to collect paintings. One of the first purchases - "Dora Maar with a cat" by Pablo Picasso - was made in May 2006 at a Sotheby's auction in New York for $ 95 million. His largest project in Russia remains "Garden Quarters" - the construction of an elite housing complex in the Frunzenskaya Embankment area.

In the hundred of the richest businessmen in Russia for 2009, Ivanishvili occupies

12th place. According to the site forbesrussia.ru, Ivanishvili's fortune in 2009 was estimated at $3.2 billion, in 2008 - $6.7 billion.

Boris Ivanishvili is married and has four children.

Sources: forbesrussia.ru, bfm.ru, kommersant.ru dated February 16, 2010, realty.newsru.com dated January 26. 2007, finansmag.ru dated 3/30/2009, nregion.com dated 11/22/2007

Dossier:

Boris Ivanishvili is called the most mysterious Russian billionaire for a reason. His name is mentioned in connection with only a few conflicts. And the role that, judging by press reports, Ivanishvili played in them is not the main one.

In 1995, Boris Ivanishvili was mentioned in the media in connection with the conflict that occurred during the auction of shares in RAO Norilsk Nickel. It was reported that a subsidiary of Rossiyskiy Kredit Bank was not allowed to participate in this auction.

According to press reports, on November 17, RAO Norilsk Nickel, along with other companies, was put up for auction for the right to lend to the government on the security of shares held in state property. As the press wrote, the winner of the auction for a 38% stake in RAO Norilsk Nickel was ONEXIMbank, which offered a loan of $170.1 million (with a starting price of the lot of $170 million). The other two participants were reported to have offered $170 million each.

Rossiyskiy Kredit Bank's company, JSC Kont, was not admitted to the auction, although it intended to offer the government a $355 million loan. $70 million less than the starting price of the lot.

The bank's president, Vitaly Malkin, said in this regard that the state had lost a significant amount of money by rejecting Kont's application. According to press reports, Boris Ivanishvili, a member of the board of Rossiyskiy Kredit, told Alfred Kokh, Acting Chairman of the State Property Committee, in a raised tone, that he intended to go to court. Later, Alfred Koch shared with reporters: "You see, normal banks apply on their own behalf, and Rossiyskiy Kredit on behalf of a shell company. What can this mean?!" The media reported that Norilsk Nickel was not the only failure of Russian Credit. He also failed to win the auction of Mechel JSC shares.
Source: "Kommersant" No. 214 (932) dated 11/18/1995

In 1997, Boris Ivanishvili was involved in the scandal surrounding the Krasnoyarsk Aluminum Plant (KrAZ). As the press reported, the story began in 1992, when Russian Credit acquired about 30% of the shares of the Krasnoyarsk Metallurgical Plant (KraMZ) at a voucher auction. KraMZ was located next to KrAZ and was intended for the production of products from Kraz aluminum. But, as it was reported, KrAZ shipped aluminum abroad in the early 1990s, KraMZ was unemployed and was not of interest to investors. But the deplorable state of the enterprise did not prevent Ivanishvili from buying it.

According to the press, a year later, Vasily Anisimov became a client of Russian Credit. His company "Trustconsult" supplied aluminum for export.

Meanwhile, according to media reports, a war broke out at KrAZ. Several well-known entrepreneurs became its victims. At that time, 20% of the shares of KraAZ remained in the ownership of the state. At the end of 1994, as the press wrote, the State Property Committee passed a resolution according to which KraMZ (Ivanishvili) merged with a neighboring plant, as well as with a supplier of raw materials - the Achinsk Alumina Refinery (AGK). KraMZ, as reported, was to issue additional shares in favor of the state. And the government, in exchange for these shares, transferred to KraMZ 20% of the Krasnoyarsk aluminum plant and 20% of AGK. The scheme assumed that the one who controls KraMZ became the owner of the largest stake in the aluminum plant.

And then the participants in the war at KrAZ learned that KraMZ already had an owner, Boris Ivanishvili. This, as the press wrote, put an end to the multi-move: to take possession of the KrAZ stake, “gifting” it to KraMZ, and then buy KraMZ itself inexpensively.

In the summer of 1996, according to Ivanishvili, an unknown person called him and demanded to sell KraMZ shares. Ivanishvili, in his words, asked to call back the next day. And when the next day the call rang again, he announced the price for which he agreed to part with the shares. But he agreed to meet only with an official, the director of KrAZ, Yuri Kolpakov. Ivanishvili soon sold the shares on his own terms.

The next day, an acquaintance of the FSB officer, as the press wrote, warned Ivanishvili about an alleged assassination attempt on him. As Ivanishvili said, it was then that he understood why, before signing the agreement, Kolpakov offered for the shares an amount several times less than Ivanishvili had called in telephone conversation with the unknown. The organizers of the event had an overlay, and the director of KrAZ, according to Ivanishvili, thought that he (Ivanishvili) was intimidated to death and would give everything away without bargaining.

As the press wrote, a year later Ivanishvili became a shareholder of KrAZ itself. According to him, he did this to support Vasily Anisimov, who had already invested in KrAZ

your finances. But after a while, as Ivanishvili admitted, he was tired of the uncertainty at the plant, and he offered to buy out his shares. The package was bought by Vasily Anisimov.
Source: Russian Forbes, May 2005

Boris Ivanishvili is mentioned in the press in connection with the scandal surrounding the sale

Mikhailovsky Mining and Processing Plant. According to media reports, in January 2005, Alisher Usmanov (owner of Ural Steel LLC) and Vasily Anisimov (former co-owner of Trustconsult and head of Coalco) purchased from Boris Ivanishvili for $1.65 billion a 97% stake in Mikhailovsky GOK, one of the largest producers of iron ore in Russia.

The media reported that Boris Ivanishvili, until the very end, expected to sell only half of the Mikhailovsky GOK and keep control of it in his own hands. Initially, as part of an agreement with Usmanov and Anisimov, Boris Ivanishvili sold them 47% of MGOK and 30% of JSC Tulachermet controlled by him, acquiring a 50% stake in the authorized capital of Ural Steel.But then, as reported, it became clear that

partners will not be able to share asset management. According to the press, Ivanishvili hoped to keep MGOK in his hands, offering Alisher Usmanov only a share in the company's profits. But he intended to completely take control into his own hands. As a result, the partners signed a new agreement specifying the details of the deal. In accordance with it, the Mikhailovsky GOK and the shares of Tulachermet were transferred to the management of Ural Steel.

Experts, whose opinions were cited in the press, argued that Boris Ivanishvili could part with the Mikhailovsky GOK for two reasons. The first was a possible conflict for leadership in the metallurgical holding with Alisher Usmanov. The second is the lack of operational funds: at the time of the transaction, the Rossiyskiy Kredit bank, controlled by Unicor, had debt obligations to Western partners totaling about $1 billion.
Source: "Kommersant" No. 4 (3088) dated 01/14/2005

Soon after the transaction, the news appeared that the sold stake was arrested Arbitration Court Rostov region as security for the claim of the Bahamian company Colchecter Group Trading. The plaintiff's representatives argued that back in November 2004, Colchecter Group Trading entered into an agreement with a certain Terra-Soft LLC to purchase a 97% stake in GOK and paid $100,000. The cost of the transaction allegedly amounted to 3 million rubles. But the shares of Colchecter Group Trading did not receive. As the press wrote, then the arrest from the shares was lifted, after which it turned out that they did not belong to Terra-Soft. It turned out that "Terra-Soft" tried to sell them illegally. The media reported that the judge who seized the shares was fired. And the Main Investigation Department (GSU) under the Main Department of Internal Affairs of Russia opened a criminal case on fraud.

According to the press, in the spring of 2005, the head of the Universal Savings Bank, Igor Zhlobitsky, and lawyer Oleg Voronkov, were arrested. In August, Oleg Kiselev, the former head of Renaissance Capital, a member of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, who in 2001-2002 headed the board of directors of the Metalloinvest holding, which managed the Mikhailovsky GOK, appeared among the defendants in the case.

As reported, one of the suspects testified that Kiselev was the organizer of the scam. But the former head of Metalloinvest's board of directors was brought in only as a witness. After a single conversation with the investigator, Kiselev left Russia.

Ivanishvili Bidzina (Boris) Grigorievich

Georgian politician 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 Tbilisi State University. named after Ivane Javakhishvili. In 1982, Ivanishvili entered, and in 1986 he graduated from the graduate school of the Research Institute of Labor in Moscow, where he defended his thesis for degree 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 found itself in a difficult situation - the bank's debts exceeded $1 billion, the bank had significant investments in Russian government securities, which were most affected by the default. "Russian Credit" passed under the control of the Agency for Restructuring credit organizations, in 2000 a settlement 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 in 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, a resort area on the Black Sea coast "Kvavilnari", as well as various companies.

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 filed an application for deprivation 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.

January 28, 2014 Supreme Court Georgia canceled the decree of former President Mikheil Saakashvili, according to which Bidzina Ivanishvili was deprived 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.

On March 29, 2015, at the residence of former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, a 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 Georgian Labor Party demanded that the former Prime Minister of Georgia be held criminally liable 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.

Bidzina (Boris) Grigoryevich Ivanishvili was born on February 18, 1956 in the village of Chorvila, Sachkhere District, Georgian SSR, in the family of a miner - his father worked at the Chiaturmarganets plant.

After school, Ivanishvili moved to Tbilisi. There he studied at the Faculty of Engineering and Economics of the Tbilisi state university and at the same time, in 1974-1978, he worked at the Kamo Foundry and Mechanical Plant as a cleaner, an auxiliary worker, then a grinder.

After Ivanishvili graduated with honors from the university in 1978 or, according to other sources, in 1980, he remained to work at the Foundry and Mechanical Plant, where he was first a senior engineer and then head of a laboratory for the scientific organization of labor.

From 1982 to 1986 Ivanishvili was a postgraduate student at 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 thesis 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. At this time, he lived in the hostel 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 a building from the Foundry and Mechanical Plant and began preparations for production, but soon began selling computers instead of selling hoses. The main suppliers of electronics for Ivanishvili were his acquaintances Georgian Jews who went abroad, and the Academy of Sciences of Georgia 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 All-Union Center for Commercial Information (VTsKI) of the Federation of Non-Professional Cinematographers of the Society of Film 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 Komsomol). 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 rescued by Vladimir Rushailo, who at that time headed the regional department for combating organized crime (RUBOP) of the Moscow police department, and later headed the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. In the same year, on the initiative of Ivanishvili, a certain structure was created under the RUBOP, initially financed by Rossiyskiy Kredit and providing assistance to him. It was noted that in order to interact with the RUBOP, a public charitable foundation "Assistance social protection According to the media, 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 preferred to distance itself from the fund, because "RUOP, instead of working with debtors who did not repay loans, began to take donations from them." In September 1994, for security reasons, Ivanishvili "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 the president of the bank instead of him). 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 itself the task of expanding international relations, restoring people's economy and assistance in stabilizing the political situation in Georgia. 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.

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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 the position of General Director of Infintrade LLP; 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 businessman 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 the 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 the strengthening of competitors.

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 governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory (1998), "for old times' sake he helped him with personnel."

Bank Rossiyskiy Kredit was hit hard by the economic default of 1998, when it ran into debts of approximately $1 billion. However, Ivanishvili refused to declare the bank bankrupt and restructured it, for which he was forced to sell a number of assets, including shares that allowed him to control the Lebedinsky GOK, the 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 the Belgorod, Voronezh, Kursk and Smolensk regions, and in 2002 he opened the Doctor Stoletov pharmacy chain. In November 2003, Ivanishvili joined the board of directors of OAO CB "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 as the new president. In the same year, Ivanishvili returned to Georgia and settled in his native village, where he built new house next to the parent and created a private nature 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 sources, Ivanishvili received French citizenship 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 the Stoilensky GOK to the structures of Vladimir Lisin, and later to the Mikhailovsky GOK and Tulachermet to Vasily Anisimov and Alisher Usmanov, earning more than $ 2.5 billion on this]. In 2005, Ivanishvili resigned as first vice president of Russian Credit, although he remained on its board of directors. In early 2006, Ivanishvili and Malkin also sold Impexbank, which was acquired by Raiffeisen International 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, Ore Transportation Center 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 the 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 Hotel ").

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 its 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 vine and materials for fruit seedlings. "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; between 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 construction children's center"Tsitsinatela" in the Kobuleti region and over 30 million dollars in the construction of the main cathedral "Sameba" ("Trinity") in Tbilisi. With regard to a number of facilities 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 by 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 that, President Saakashvili demanded that the businessman provide financial assistance in the amount of 1.5 billion dollars, 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 off his Russian assets. Four days after Ivanishvili's announcement that he was going into politics, the Georgian authorities announced that he had been stripped 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 opposition Republican Party led by David Usupashvili and Our Georgia - Free Democrats party led by Irakli Alasania became partners of the movement. 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 Ivanishvili's wife, Ekaterina Khvedelidze, would be appointed head of the party). Already next month, "Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia" received official registration in the Ministry of Justice of the Republic.

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 Fayerovich. In the same month, the Doctor Stoletov pharmacy was sold to the St. Petersburg pharmaceutical distributor Imperia-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 cars owned by his companies served the Georgian Dream party almost free of charge. Just four days later, the Tbilisi Court of Appeal reduced those fines to 63 million lari and 11 million lari, respectively (about $45 million in total). 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."

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 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, among others, works by Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Egon Schille, Damien Hirst and Roy Lichtenstein. The businessman spoke about his intention to open his own museum in Georgia in the future, where his collection of works of art would be displayed. 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.

The future ruler of Georgia (the chances are high) Bidzina Ivanishvili quickly burst into the international political arena, but little is still 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 recent years, the entrepreneur has sold almost all of 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. They 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 capable of withstanding 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 over communal payments fellow villagers and assigning them personal bonuses to 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 eccentric philanthropist was also talked about in neighboring provinces, the Georgian authorities even had to pass 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.

Business started in a rented room three-room apartment, where the out-of-town Ivanishvili at first lived. 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.