GEORGIA: Police Raids Target Activists & more – 1st May 2025

Gamarjobat from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Georgia Update from the 1st of May twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Georgia.

Early Tuesday morning, on the 28th, police and State Security agents raided the homes of prominent civil society members linked to foundations that financially supported pro-European protesters who had been fined, jailed, or fired for their activism.

Among them was TV producer and public figure Nanuka Zhorzholiani, whose namesake foundation had been aiding people in need long before the protests. She said that State Security agents led the raids and directed police during searches, which resulted in the seizure of documents, electronics, and storage devices.

All of the foundations had already been shut down months earlier by court order. Prosecutors say the raids are part of the same investigation, which alleges the funds were used to undermine Georgia’s constitutional order and national security.

In related news, on Wednesday, the 30th, Davit Jinjaradze, activist and member of the civil movement organization Freedom Square, posted on Facebook that he created a new fund to financially help out people fined during pro-European protests. He said that unlike local funds whose accounts have been frozen by court order, this new account has been registered in one of the English banks and will be safe from being shut down. He also said that it is important to have several of this kind of funds, where Georgians in and outside of the country will be able to donate.

Since we mentioned banks, The European People's Party (or EPP) is calling for Qartu Bank, owned by Bidzina Ivanishvili, to be disconnected from the SWIFT and Visa/MasterCard systems. This proposal was mentioned in the European Parliament’s new resolution on Georgia, where the EPP calls EU member states and partners to impose coordinated personal sanctions on Ivanishvili, his family, companies, and associates, and to freeze all his assets within the EU.

Speaking of Ivanishvili, Bloomberg has removed him from its list of the world’s 500 richest people after lowering its estimate of his wealth from 6.8 billion dollars to 3.6, which falls short of the $6.3 billion needed to stay in the ranking.

Currently, there are no other Georgians on the list, as the only other contender Mikheil Lomtadze, CEO and co-owner of the Kazakh tech company, dropped out of the list in November of last year, when his company's stocks plummeted amid accusations of misleading investors.

Next up, ten independent worker unions and civic groups have announced a protest march on Thursday, the 1st, which is International Workers' Day. They will protest against unjust social policies and the firing of public sector workers due to their political views.

Organizers say 800 public servants have been dismissed for expressing pro-European views after the government froze EU accession talks until twenty twenty-eight. They also say that reorganization is planned in the Ministry of Education, so more people are expected to be laid off.

The march will begin at Kolmeurneoba Square, symbolic for being the site of Georgia's first workers' march. It will move towards the government building and then join the ongoing demonstration on Rustaveli Avenue, which has been active for over 150 days.

Meanwhile, Irakli Garibashvili, once the official leader of the Georgian Dream or the Kotsebi, who has twice served as Prime Minister and also held the positions of Minister of Defense and Chairperson of the party, has officially retired from politics.

He made the announcement on Friday, the 25th, during a briefing at the Kotsebi’s office. There had been much speculation about Garibashvili, rumours about his conflict with the current party leadership, fueled by his long absence from public life and failure to comment on ongoing events.

In his farewell speech, he stated that he had achieved all his goals and no longer saw a need to remain in politics. He also denied rumors that he planned to create his own political party, saying he sees his future in the private sector.

On another note, a new survey shows Georgians are expecting a financial crisis. Marketing research company ACTR conducted a survey in March, over the phone, with 800 people over eighteen participating. Results show 56% expect a financial crisis within six months, and 36% already feel financially worse off. Nearly half struggle to afford basic groceries, and 55% report difficulties buying medicine or accessing healthcare.

44% blame the government for worsening living conditions, while 29% take personal responsibility. In response, many plan to cut non-essential spending: 30% on travel and leisure, 29% on entertainment. Despite a pessimistic outlook, 68% still plan to spend on health and self-care, and 40% consider education a worthwhile investment. Only 16% are open to financial investments.

Want to know more about the survey’s results? Link in the show notes!

Shifting gears, NATO’s twenty twenty-four annual report makes no mention of support for Georgia or Ukraine joining the alliance. That’s a sharp contrast with twenty twenty-three’s report, which called Georgia a close partner and backed its reform efforts and Euro-Atlantic ambitions.

For many Georgians who view NATO as the only real shield against Russian aggression, the silence is disappointing. But the ruling party isn’t likely to mind. While Georgia officially aims to join NATO, the Kotsebi has downplayed that goal for years, even before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, focusing their foreign policy on the EU instead —that was all, of course, before they decided to pivot to Russia and jeopardize the country’s European future.

Talking about Georgia’s pivot to Russia, on Saturday the 26th, TV channel Formula reported that Russian oligarch Vladimir Yakunin, a close ally of Vladimir Putin and former head of Russian Railways, visited Sighnaghi, a tourist town in the eastern region of Kakheti. He celebrated his son Andrei’s birthday there, with over 200 guests in attendance.

Both father and son face international sanctions, likely one of the reasons they chose Georgia for the event. The U.S. and Australia sanctioned Vladimir in twenty fourteen after Russia seized Crimea. Norwegian authorities arrested Andrei in twenty twenty-two for flying drones in Svalbard, violating Norway’s airspace ban on Russian nationals introduced after the invasion of Ukraine.

A massive fire broke out at Tbilisi’s Vagzali Bazaar on Wednesday, the 30th, prompting the evacuation of nearby hospitals. Fortunately, no injuries were reported. However, dozens of shops and the warehouses storing their goods were destroyed.

The fire began at 6:00 AM and quickly spread across 15,000 square meters. While the exact amount of material damage remains unknown, it is expected to be significant. The Revenue Service has announced that the destroyed goods will not be taxed in order to provide some financial relief to affected shop owners.

In other news, according to Georgia’s National Statistics Office, almost 1,000,000 international visitors traveled to the country during the first quarter of twenty twenty-five, marking an over 1% increase compared to the same period last year. The majority (almost 20%) came from Russia, with over 187,000 people, followed by Turkey and Armenia. Leisure, entertainment, and recreation were the main purposes of travel, making up over 42% of all visits. Tbilisi and the western region of Adjara, which is a tourist hub, were the most visited areas.

And to wrap up this edition, crypto mining is booming in Georgia this year, thanks to the surge in Bitcoin prices. In just the first three months of twenty twenty-five, mining companies used more electricity than the entire steel industry and even Georgian Railways. Their power use has jumped more than seven times compared to last year.

Most mining operations are based in special industrial zones in Tbilisi and Kutaisi, in western Georgia, where they get electricity without paying VAT—making it cheaper to run energy-hungry machines.

Altogether, miners used 187 million kilowatt-hours in the first quarter alone.

The trend started picking up last year, when Georgia imported a record $115 million worth of server equipment—nearly four times more than the five-year average.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

Want to share an episode? You can download any of them as an .mp3 from our website at www.rorshok.com/georgia — the link is in the show notes too!

Nakhvamdis!