Bidzina Ivanishvili, billionaire politician, withdrew from government years ago. But only officially.
He lives high up on a slope overlooking Tbilisi, in a palace made of steel and glass. He can look at the old town and the Sameba Cathedral, which he had built himself. There are replica Henry Moore sculptures, a helipad and a botanical garden. Someone like Bidzina Ivanishvili, billionaire, Georgia’s richest man, of course has another residence, with a zoo and exotic animals. About ten years ago it was penguins, zebras, lemurs, that’s what he himself told us about his other place of residence, in the province of Imereti, where he ran barefoot through the village as a child. That’s how poor he used to be, the most powerful person in the EU candidate country. These days there is more talk and mystery about Ivanishvili than there has been for a long time. He is considered partly, perhaps even primarily, responsible for the political unrest in Georgia. Where is he leading his country?