GEORGIA: The Kotsebi’s Shady Deals & more – 13th Feb 2025

Gamarjobat from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Georgia Update from the 13th of February twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Georgia.

On Friday, the 7th, Japanese Tabloid Shūkan Bunshun reported that Uta Ivanishvili, the eldest son of Bidzina Ivanishvili, recently met Teimuraz Lezhava, the Georgian Ambassador to Japan, in Tokyo. During the meeting, Lezhava was photographed handing Uta a large black bag, saying, Don’t open it here. I hope it helps you. The content of the bag remains unknown.

Uta, who has lived in Japan for over two years, keeps a low profile, staying out of the media spotlight. He recently bought an apartment in Tokyo for 500 million yen, which is $3.3 million dollars in Tokyo without a loan.

The bag exchange has raised suspicions about Lezhava’s role and whether diplomatic channels are being used for private interests, especially since the Ivanishvili family is under international scrutiny.

In other news from the foreign press. On Thursday, the 6th, Thai newspaper The Nation reported on a major trafficking scheme in Georgia. The Pavena Foundation for Children and Women rescued three Thai women from a Chinese criminal group running an egg farm. Around 100 Thai women were tricked into going to Georgia, where they were told they’d be surrogates. The women were promised between 400,000 and 600,000 Thai Baht, which is between $12,000 and17,000 dollars but instead were isolated in residential compounds.

They were forced to undergo monthly egg extraction procedures for in vitro fertilization abroad. If they refused the procedures, they were threatened with prison or were asked to pay a ransom to be let go. One victim managed to contact her family, who paid about $2,100 dollars for her release. While some women returned to Thailand through a rescue operation, many remain in Georgia.

Next Up. On Wednesday, the 5th, the Georgian Dream, or the Kotsebi, set up a temporary parliamentary commission to investigate the activities of the United National Movement or Natsebi from two thousand three to twenty twelve, when they were in power. The commission, which will work for three months with the possibility of a six-month extension, will evaluate the political and economic risks, among others risks.

All the members of the commission will be from the Kotsebi because there is no other party in the parliament. This move is likely connected with their promise to outlaw the Natsebi after the election, but since the Kotsebi did not receive a constitutional majority, they cannot get rid of the Natsebi directly.

In yet another attempt to weaponize the legal system against critical voices, on Monday, the 10th, the General Prosecutor's Office opened a criminal investigation on the charges of assisting a foreign-controlled organization in hostile activities.

The investigation started at the request of the Kotsebi-affiliated movement United Neutral Georgia or Ertiani Neitraluri Sakartvelo, who say that for the last couple of years, foreign powers have been trying to overthrow the government through violent means.

This marks a major escalation in the government's narrative about foreign-funded agents and spies allegedly trying to overthrow the ruling party. The move serves to further intimidate prominent NGOs and civil society members critical of the Kotsebi, implicitly threatening them with prosecution and imprisonment.

On Friday, the 7th, Alan Berset, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, posted on Twitter that PM Irakli Kobakhidze no longer wanted to be part of the working group on the foreign agents law, also known as the Russian law, due to what he described as changed circumstances. Berset visited Georgia in December twenty twenty-four and got a promise from the government to set up a working group to make changes to the controversial law.

But when they spoke on Monday the 3rd, Kobakhidze told Berset that the government didn't want to participate or make changes to the law anymore. Berset expressed disappointment and brought up concerns about the rule of law, human rights, and the political polarization in Georgia.

The Institute of Social Research and Analysis has shared the first major political opinion survey of the year, which was conducted from the 18th to 30th of January and involved 2,000 respondents.

According to the results, 62% believe the country is heading in the wrong direction, with 82 % considering the current situation a political crisis, and 78% of them blaming the ruling party for it.

Economic issues like high prices and unemployment, along with migration and drug use, are seen as major problems. 86% support EU integration and 74% support NATO membership. However, at the same time, over half support Georgia’s neutrality. This paradox might be caused by the fear of provoking Russia into war.

Regarding ongoing protests - 60% support them, 62% want new parliamentary elections and 76% want freedom for the people imprisoned during the demonstrations.

A month ago, we reported a fight in an Abu Dhabi hotel, when two Kotsebi MPs attacked a citizen who criticized them for betraying the country and selling it to Russia. The video of that altercation went viral on social media. All parties involved were fined by local police and allowed to return to Georgia.

The story continued on Tuesday, the 11th, when Lasha Gabitashvili, the victim of the Abu Dhabi incident, posted a video on Facebook, describing the attack. Gogi Zarkua, one of the MPs involved in the incident, denies any connection to this attack.

In the original video the MPs threatened Gabitashvili with revenge when he returned to Tbilisi.

On Sunday, the 9th, 150,000 households in Tbilisi were left without gas. The company in charge, Energy Pro, initially said that a third party damaged the central gas pipeline. The incident sparked a massive outcry on social media against the company and the city municipality. The situation looked especially bad for the municipality, as the gas shutoff affected Vake and Saburtalo, the city's wealthiest and most prestigious districts. The gas supply wasn’t fully restored until Wednesday the 12th.

Speculation spread on social media that the pipeline had been damaged by a developer of an apartment complex, and that the wrongdoer would go unpunished. This idea has some credibility, since Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze later said that no third party was involved in the damage and that Energy Pro’s initial statement was a mistake.

In a bit of funnier news. Irakli Kobakhidze attended the World Government Summit in Dubai this week. The Kotsebi seems keen on joining any event that can boost their party's image as a legitimate government. In an ironic turn of events, the official press release of the event mistakenly listed the prime minister of Georgia as Irakli Gharibashvili, who actually left the position in January of last year.

On another note, over 400 workers at the Rustavi Metallurgical Plant have gone on strike in the southeastern city of Georgia. They demand the reinstatement of colleagues fired a month ago and a 500 lari salary increase, which is about 180 US dollars.

The workers had previously talked to the management about their concerns and formally warned of the strike a week ago. They stress the dangerous conditions, working with molten steel day and night, without enough attention from the company. Employees argue they should receive a fair share of the profits they help generate, and express frustration at being threatened with legal action if they don’t return to work.

Famous footballer Andriy Shevchenko, who was a teammate and friend of Tbilisi’s Mayor Kakhi Kaladze, revealed in an interview with sports magazine Tribuna that he is no longer a friend of Kaladze. Shevchenko expressed his support for Ukraine's president Zelenskyy and said, "Kaladze no longer exists for me."

Kaladze, who played alongside Shevchenko at Dynamo Kyiv and AC Milan, has made controversial anti-Ukrainian statements, especially after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He criticized President Zelensky, accusing him of serving foreign interests. Following this, Ukraine imposed sanctions on Kaladze and other Georgian leaders.

Kaladze owns two properties in Kyiv, and financial sanctions have frozen his assets and transactions in Ukraine.

Speaking of sportsmen, on Sunday, the 9th, Aleksandre Topuria, brother of the Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, made his UFC debut, winning by a unanimous decision against Australian Colby Ticknes. The twenty-nine-year-old won all three rounds. Aleksandre’s successful debut adds to Georgia's growing presence in UFC, with six Georgian fighters currently competing, two of them being champions of their divisions.

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

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Nakhvamdis!