Former Georgian Dream ally and businessperson sentenced to nine years in prison

Businessperson Giorgi Chikvaidze, a former supporter and recent critic of the ruling Georgian Dream party, was sentenced to nine years in prison by the Tbilisi City Court on charges of embezzlement. Chikvaidze denied the charges from the outset, calling them politically motivated, and threatened to expose the current government’s ties with Russia.

Judge Iza Kelenjeridze announced the verdict on Wednesday. Under the same ruling, Chikvaidze’s business partner, Irakli Papiashvili, was sentenced to eight years in prison on similar charges. Unlike Chikvaidze, who had been held in pre-trial detention since March, Papiashvili had been released on bail. He was handcuffed in the courtroom immediately after the verdict was read.

Temur Adonia, the lawyer representing Chikvaidze and Papiashvili, told OC Media that the defence would appeal the first-instance court’s decision.

Chikvaidze, who was involved in the yachting industry, is accused of deceiving Adjara-based businessperson Elguja Turmanidze, for whom he was supposed to bring a yacht from Italy. According to the prosecution’s version, Chikvaidze ultimately neither delivered the yacht nor returned the money paid by Turmanidze.

According to a report published in mid-April by Transparency International Georgia, the case against Chikvaidze and his partner, though classified under criminal law, is potentially a civil dispute ‘with no evidence of fraud or elements of embezzlement’.

‘Alongside corrupt and nepotistic interests within the law enforcement system, this case also reveals the interest of Ivanishvili’s regime in settling scores with a former ally — a businessman who not only dared to refuse an anti-state assignment, but later publicly spoke out about it’, the organisation added.

Chikvaidze has denied all the validity of all accusations brought by the prosecution. Before his detention, he appeared on opposition TV channels, claiming that the real reason behind his persecution was the evidence he claimed he had, allegedly proving ties between the current government and Russian intelligence. According to him, he owned both documents and audio recordings to support these claims.

Two days before the verdict was announced, on Monday, a post appeared on Chikvaidze’s Facebook page stating that the businessman had, through his representatives, submitted documents to the US Helsinki Commission. According to the post, the materials ‘expose a joint operation by Russian and Georgian intelligence services aimed at recruiting senior American officials’. No further details were specified.

For years, the businessperson had expressed support for Georgian Dream, but in 2024 he openly distanced himself from the party.

According to his claims, his disagreement with the government began in 2022 when he refused to help Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska evade sanctions by letting his yacht enter Georgian waters illegally and then sail to Russia.

Chikvaidze is not the only businessman who was once close to the current government but later turned against it.

Just a few days before Chikvaidze’s detention on 12 March, businessperson Giorgi Bachiashvili — also a former supporter of Georgian Dream and a former partner of the party’s founder Bidzina Ivanishvili — secretly fled Georgia. Like Chikvaidze, he publicly turned against the ruling party, and later two financial cases were opened against him, both involving Ivanishvili.

Following his arrest, Chikvaidze began a hunger strike in protest, which he ended on 10 April. His lawyer reported that the hunger strike had deteriorated his health, requiring him to be transferred to a clinic.

Tbilisi court sentences former Ivanishvili confidant to 11 years in absentia

Giorgi Bachiashvili’s current location is unknown.

OC MediaMikheil Gvadzabia