We are talking about the richest man in the country, Bidzina Ivanishvili

The founder of the Georgian Dream party and former Prime Minister of Georgia, Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is the richest man in the country, announced his return to politics, assuming the role of "honorary chairman" of his Georgian Dream party. 

According to Echo of the Caucasus, the Georgian Dream plans to renew its political council at its congress on December 30. According to the innovations in the party's charter, the number of members of the political council will be reduced from 20 to 15, plus the chairman.

The new composition of the political council will be represented by the current Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, former football player Kakha Kaladze, and current speaker Shalva Papuashvili.

The congress will also consider preparations for the 2024 parliamentary elections.

Bidzina Ivanishvili is known for having close ties to the russian political elite, lobbying on behalf of vladimir yevtushenkov, one of russia's wealthiest men, in both russia and Georgia to circumvent sanctions against russia, and has business interests with georgy poltavchenko, the governor of St. Petersburg, which is under US sanctions, and anna kuvichko, a member of the state duma. In response, the European Parliament called for sanctions against Ivanishvili, and in the fall of 2022, Ukraine declared him a war sponsor and imposed sanctions on his family. 

In 2023, Georgia received the status of an EU candidate. This status was granted to Tbilisi despite a lack of initiative from Georgian authorities. After that, it will become more difficult for the Georgian authorities to find opportunities for maneuvering between the EU and russia.

It is worth reminding that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has stated that sanctions against russia will harm his country and, accordingly, they do not support them. 

Therefore, if Georgia chooses the path of European integration, it will have to live by the same rules as the EU, and therefore it will need to support sanctions against russia, but will it take this step? 

This leads to one of the most popular theses among the Georgian opposition that the reason Ivanishvili returned to politics is an attempt to provide guarantees that Georgia will not join the EU. The prerequisites for this may be the fact that the Alt-Info movement is gaining popularity in Georgia, which has held actions to burn EU flags across the country.