“Bidzina Ivanishvili won completely fairly in every European jurisdiction and instance; everywhere he received justice. But the political decision that he cannot receive this money due to sanctions — he can blame only himself for that,” — said one of the leaders of The Federalists, Tengo Kirtadze, assessing the fact that the founder of Georgian Dream, Bidzina Ivanishvili, won the lawsuit related to Credit Suisse in the UK Supreme Court as well.

According to Tengo Kirtadze, Ivanishvili sacrificed the national interests of the country to cover up his own wrong decision.

“Bidzina Ivanishvili’s decision to invest capital in 2008 turned out to be wrong, because he ran into criminals — the people who were managing the capital of oligarchs of that type in Credit Suisse. Will he blame himself for that? Ivanishvili is not the only person who had problems with Credit Suisse. At that time, the Russian economic boom period was underway — oil prices were triple-digit and capital flowed into Europe, where banking standards existed. There was also the Swiss banking system, where Credit Suisse stood out for the protection of banking information and for offering alternative ways to invest money. Ivanishvili used this route. In 2008, we in Georgia did not know who Bidzina Ivanishvili was — what ‘deep state’? And to cover up his own wrong decision, he sacrificed the national interests of the country, and he has been trading on this issue for years. He created an expectation within his own vertical that the Trump administration would take care of him and lift the sanctions — but he has no chance,” — said Tengo Kirtadze.

Speaking about other issues, the politician also discussed Arab investments in the country. According to him, criticism and the “attack” from the media and political actors toward this investment was carried out from the wrong direction.

“I have no questions for Kobakhidze, and accordingly, I have no questions regarding this [‘Eagle Hills’] investment project either. He is who he is — Ivanishvili’s political nonentity. I would rather talk to Ivanishvili about the transfer of power and the compromises that will be necessary. The attack on this project came from the wrong angle. Then the issue of the Patriarchate appeared — ‘let the Church mediate,’ which is complete absurdity. And now we see the introduction of Alt-Info-style and Black-Hundreds rhetoric about ‘Arabization.’ In reality, we face different challenges. ‘Georgian Dream’ is paying the price of Western isolation, because attracting capital has become problematic. Major Georgian companies have high Western participation — meaning that Georgia stands on Western capital. Now we face the risk not only that capital will not enter the country — but that there is a high probability of capital outflow. Public fear must be managed. How many directions are there for capital to enter the country? First — Russia, but the situation is difficult there, they’re already taxing their own society aggressively. Second — Iran, but that is problematic too because investment will mean sanctions. That leaves Arab and Chinese investment. Exactly through this lens they considered the strategic partnership with China. When Irakli Kobakhidze visited China as Prime Minister, what economic breakthrough did he make? He signed a memorandum on the export of Georgian chicken — which is the maximum of what they can do.”

Speaking on statements by Georgian Dream comparing the “Eagle Hills” criticism to the “Namakhvani HPP” case, Kirtadze said:

“The Namakhvani HPP project failed due to internal clan conflicts within Georgian Dream, and Georgia now has to pay more than 1 billion GEL to that company. A similar direction is developing in this case as well. The Arab side may invest some money, but there is no such thing as 6 billion. Today Georgian Dream is trying to present this project as capitalistically profitable. The media and the opposition helped Georgian Dream spread the message — ‘we are attracting capital despite isolation.’ We remember Georgian Dream’s countless supposed investments — apparently now we all drive cars made in the Kutaisi electric factory and vacation in Tskaltubo, which is supposedly better than Monaco. Kutaisi International University, which was designed for 60,000 students, has 1,200 students — and even by the project estimate, is for only 8–10 thousand. These are political fraudsters backed against a wall, insisting like a small child that ‘the deep state stole the chocolate,’” — said Tengo Kirtadze.

Kirtadze also commented on the protest rally announced for November 28. According to him, the time has come for the political spectrum to show society a “democratic alternative.”

“This rally will be a decisive stage leading to final victory. Throughout this past year, the population has shown courage, principles, love for the country and society, and understanding of the price of freedom — despite the circumstances and persecution taking place. Society has done everything. Now the political spectrum must offer society an alternative, which the political spectrum is working on, involving both political actors and various civic groups. A model of cooperation must emerge, where we will talk about issues on which consensus can be reached. The path we have walked shows that the Georgian political spectrum is not as hopeless as many thought,” — said Tengo Kirtadze.