Ivanishvili’s Trees

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An uprooted baobab tree in Kenya being exported to Georgia. November, 2022. Image: Kevin Odit / Nation Media Group.

Bidzina Ivanishvili

Ivanishvili-linked dendrological park blasts opposition over death of Kenyan baobab trees

by Shota Kincha

•2 min read

All eight baobab trees imported from Kenya to the Ivanishvili-founded Shekvetili Dendrological Park have died, with the park blaming the opposition United National Movement (UNM). In a sharply-worded statement on Friday, the park rebuked what it called ‘ambushing politicos’ and ‘so-called non-governmental organisations’ for raising the alarm over Ivanishvili’s apparent quest to acquire baobab trees from Kenya’s Kilifi region. This turned the issue into an ‘ideological battleground on African c

Adjara

Ivanishvili’s tree collecting hobby

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•4 min read

Georgia’s billionaire ex prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili has been ripping up ancient and rare trees from across the country and transporting them to his private arboretum in Ureki. While the government claims it is for their own protection, activists continue to challenge the move. ‘It’s my hobby and I really love big trees, giant trees are my entertainment’, the billionaire businessman and godfather of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Bidzina Ivanishvili, explained in one interview. He