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bne September 2019 Eurasia I 65
as shareholders of TBC Bank, the imple- mentation of the Anaklia Port project and the state,” Khazaradze said after
he was officially charged with money laundering.
The two bankers said the charges would damage prospects for attracting investment into the country.
Khazaradze represents TBC in the Anak- lia Development Consortium (ADC). ADC is facing difficulties in raising $600mn from international financial institutions for first-phase financing. It has accused the government of actions that have hindered the process. Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire head of ruling party Georgian Dream and an ex-PM of Georgia, is often accused of wanting to take over the project.
“Ivanishvili does not want to see foreign investors. He does not want competition. It's very dangerous for the country. Only Bidzina Ivanishvili's friends come here,” Fadi Asli, chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Georgia told journalists.
EBRD issues statement
Following the resignations, the European Bank of Reconstruction and Develop- ment, a minority shareholder in TBC Bank Group, put out a statement, read- ing; “EBRD notes the recent board chang- es at TBC Bank Group PLC. The bank is a solid financial institution led by a strong management and an independent board of directors. We welcome the decision by the chairman and the deputy chairman of the bank to step down from the board at this time to focus on allegations made against them in a legal dispute.
“We also welcome the strengthening of the board with the addition of indepen- dent directors with extensive executive level experience in financial institu- tions. We expect a fair and transparent due process and a prompt resolution
of the case with no adverse impact on the operations of the bank. Meanwhile, the EBRD as a longstanding partner, shareholder and lender of TBC Bank will continue to work with and support TBC Bank Group PLC.”
Georgia’s PM resigns, says he “fulfilled my mission”
Kanat Shaku in Almaty
Georgia’s PM Mamuka Bakhtadze on September 2 announced in a facebook post that he had resigned because he had “fulfilled my main mission as the prime minister of Georgia”. Views differ on what his mission was, though.
Bakhtadze was appointed in June 2018 after predecessor Giorgi Kvirikashvili stepped down citing “disagreements on fundamental issues” with Georgian Dream (GD) ruling party chairman, billionaire oligarch and ex-PM Bidzina Ivanishvili—the man often described as the small nation’s de facto leader.
It was later understood that Kvirikashvili was dismissed because he helped TBC Bank co-founder Mamukha Khazaradze take the lead in the Anaklia deep-water port project, the national flagship infrastructure project on the Black Sea coast under the Anaklia Development Consortium (ADC) said to have the potential to become a game-changing transit hub between Asia and Europe.
It is possible that Bakhtadze’s sudden resignation could also be linked to the approach he took to the port project, which Ivanishvili follows very closely as Khazaradze strives to fulfil the ADC agenda despite the obstacles, including anxieties that the government could swing behind an alternative port project at Poti.
But his departure could also be linked to the simple fact that the government has not delivered on promises. Fady Asly, chairman of International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Georgia, has spoken for many in expressing his disappointment with all the prime ministers appointed by Ivanishvili’s GD.
“Under your watch, total direct foreign investment has decreased to the level of 2006. Under your watch, criminality has increased to such an extent that in certain areas of the city [Tbilisi] people are now scared to walk at night in the streets. Under your watch, corruption has exploded, and we read every day in the press the name of new government officials arrested for corrupt deals, probably for having turned their back on you,” Asly wrote in an open letter this August.
The outgoing prime minister stressed that education was the main achievement of his term, mentioning that the budget of the education ministry was now set by law at 6% of GDP.
“Education has the most important role in the... strategic development framework, and I have always said that the emergence and realisation of education as a national idea was the main motivation for me to enter public policy,” he wrote in his resignation post.
Mamuka Bakhtadze, Georgia prime minister 2019
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