Of the Georgian Dream, excludes that the founder of the ruling party, former prime minister, and billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili can be considered an "oligarch".

The point on the "de-oligarchizing" of Georgia is contained in the requirements of the European Commission, which the country must fulfill to obtain the status of a candidate in the EU. In addition, the European Parliament, in its resolution of June 9, directly called for sanctions against Ivanishvili, called him an "oligarch", pointed to his ties with the Kremlin and the negative impact on the development of democracy in Georgia.

Garibashvili believes that to assess Ivanishvili's role, "reasonable arguments are needed, not political assessments."

"Mr. Bidzina Ivanishvili is the founder of our party, he was the prime minister. His personal authority and the role he played in politics are huge from the point of view of the development of our country.

Mr. Bidzina Ivanishvili is not an oligarch. An oligarch is a person who enriches himself at the expense of the resources of the state, influences business, politics and parties in Georgia.

Mr. Bidzina Ivanishvili did not receive any income from Georgia – on the contrary. Everything that this man earned, he brought and spent in Georgia. That is, he is a philanthropist, a philanthropist and then the founder of a political party," the Prime minister said at a briefing today.

Garibashvili noted that a specific condition was set out by the European Commission for all three countries of the Associated Trio — Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia.

Even though he believes that "de-oligarchizing" is "not really" a problem in Georgia, the prime Minister promised to consult with the European Union authorities on this issue to "get more details and explanations.

 "We will consult with Brussels to get more details and explanations, as well as how implement this law. We were told that a similar law has been adopted in Ukraine, but it was also mentioned that it is imperfect. Of course, we will delve into this topic," Garibashvili said.

The chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Irakli Kobakhidze, also believes that even if Georgia passes a law on oligarchs, Ivanishvili will not fall under it.

According to him, the discussion has not yet begun, but there are "three theoretical options": you can write a Georgian law, you can directly copy the Ukrainian law on oligarchs, or "do not adopt any law if it is not needed."

"If we copy the law from Ukraine, then in this case people directly connected with the opposition will fall under the definition of an oligarch, but no one, not even the founder of the party, Bidzina Ivanishvili, will fall under it from the side of the Georgian Dream.

This is reality. Based on this, theoretically we can judge these three versions, but what decision will be made depends not only on us," Kobakhidze explained.

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