Bachiashvili: Complaint Arose After Refusing Ivanishvili's Anti-Western Line
By Liza Mchedlidze
Thursday, July 31, 2025
Giorgi Bachiashvili, former director of the Co-Investment Fund, told the Court of Appeal that the charges against him were politically motivated and followed his refusal to support anti-Western messaging pushed by Bidzina Ivanishvili's associates.
"The complaint against me arose after I did not follow Ivanishvili in his anti-Western rhetoric. When Zaza Shatirishvili first spread anti-Western propaganda, he wanted me to spread it. But I refused," Bachiashvili said during his testimony.
He also dismissed any suggestion of a business partnership with Ivanishvili, stating, "Bidzina Ivanishvili and I had no common or joint business."
"In November 2016, I repaid the loan with interest and no one had any complaints. The complaints arose after I did not follow Ivanishvili in his anti-Western rhetoric," he repeated.
Bachiashvili went on to describe what he said was a turning point in their relationship. "Then he thought, 'I can make money with Bitcoin,' and he started robbing me. I was also the only person around him who condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine."
Detailing how his crypto mining venture began, Bachiashvili said, "I had a good relationship with Bidzina Ivanishvili, he helped a lot of people, so I went and told him that I wanted to borrow money for crypto mining, he sent me to the bank. The bank saw the risks because they did not know about it."
"I told Bidzina Ivanishvili on the phone that there were risks, but I knew this business, and the risk was low, so I also told him that I had assets in it. He told me to talk to Nato [Cartu Bank Supervisory Board Chairwoman Nato Khaindrava] and that he would talk to her too. And I went to Nato that very day."
He strongly disputed Ivanishvili's version of events: "Ivanishvili said in his testimony that Nato made him change his mind and then I came in as an investor myself. This is a lie."
"When the phone recording surfaced in November, Bidzina Ivanishvili said that he wanted to get involved in this business, not me, then when the phone recording appeared, he gave a second testimony and said that he did what a father would not do to his son. He said 'I helped him like a father,' that is, I seized my business."
