Bidzina Ivanishvili Applies for Georgian Citizenship

Businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili applied to official institutions for Georgian citizenship, - the businessman stated about it when leaving the French Embassy.

On December 29, Bidzina Ivanishvili met acting French Ambassador Michel Barran and applied to surrender his French Citizenship.

Ivanishvili clarified his decision by his desire to acquire Georgian citizenship and participate in the political life of Georgia.

“I have surrendered Russian citizenship. Now I have launched a new procedure. Today I filed application to surrender French Citizenship. The European Convention states that a person, surrendering citizenship of any EU state, shall not remain without citizenship. So, I apply to official institutions of Georgia to grant Georgian Citizenship to me because I do not hold citizenship of any other country. I was born in Georgia, I live here and they have no grounds to decline my application. The Foreign Ministry of France will wait for the Georgian authority to grant citizenship to me and they will annul my French Citizenship only afterwards,” said Ivanishvili.

Lawyer Zakaria Kutsnashvili said there are only three grounds to decline the businessman’s application – if he is recognized to be a terrorist, wanted or threats public safety.

Several days ago, the businessman’s press center reported that Ivanishvili’s Russian Citizenship was stopped. As for Georgian Citizenship, the Tbilisi City Court partly satisfied Bidzina Ivanishvili and Ekaterina Khvedelidze’s lawsuit and restored citizenship only for the businessman’s wife.

President of Georgia stripped Georgian citizenships of Bidzina Ivanishvili and his wife on October 11, 2011.

IPN