Leader of Georgian Dream opposition coalition, Bidzina Ivanishvili, said he would not pay GEL 148.68 million fine, imposed on him by the court upon the state audit agency’s request.
“Of course I am not going to pay this sum,” Ivanishvili said in an interview with a local media outlet in Guria region, Guria News, released on June 13.
Ivanishvili condemned court’s ruling on his multi-million fine as “absurd”, saying “the court has lost sense”.
In its two separate rulings on June 11 Tbilisi City Court imposed total of GEL 148.68 million (about USD 90.9 million) fine on Ivanishvili after the state audit agency decided that the Georgian Dream leader violated party funding regulations. Ivanishvili’s lawyers appealed the ruling to higher court on June 13, which has to consider the appeal within 48 hours. Ivanishvili’s lawyers said there was no chance of success in appeals court, accusing judiciary of partaking in the authorities’ campaign of targeting the billionaire politician.
Asked how the case would develop as he refuses to pay the fine, Ivanishvili responded: “We should ask the authorities what they plan to do next. One thing I can say is that everything will be all right.”
“They [the authorities] are in agony; he [President Saakashvili] is in hysteria, because he understands very well that everything goes towards its logical end,” Ivanishvili said.