Giorgi Bachiashvili, formerly a close associate and financial advisor to Georgian billionaire and ex-Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, announced on March 4, that he had left Georgia, citing political persecution and threats to his safety.
“It is with great sadness and a sense of injustice that I announce my forced departure from Georgia,” Bachiashvili wrote on social media.
Bachiashvili had been banned from leaving the country and crossing the Georgian border since 2023, and his passport had been confiscated.
It is not yet known how he managed to leave the country.
Giorgi Bachiashvili wrote that he received “reliable information” about “real threats” to his safety, which, he said, “could have deadly consequences in today’s Georgia.”
“I have received credible information regarding threats to my safety—threats that, in today’s Georgia, carry deadly weight. In prison, I would be left absolutely defenseless, face to face with Ivanishvili’s executioners…in the very prison where Ivanishvili threatened to crush me,” He adds.
Today, March 4, at 9:30 AM, Bachiashvili’s next trial was scheduled at the Tbilisi City Court, which was postponed until 2:00 PM.
Background and Legal Challenges
Bachiashvili served as the CEO of Ivanishvili’s Georgian Co-Investment Fund from 2013 to 2019. In 2023, he faced allegations of embezzling 8,253 bitcoins, valued at approximately $39.2 million at the time, from an investment venture initiated in 2015. Prosecutors claimed that while managing a cryptocurrency mining operation, Bachiashvili misappropriated the bitcoins, delivering only $536,900 to the investor. Consequently, he was charged and released on a bail of 2.5 million GEL (around $1 million), with restrictions placed on his travel.
In late February 2025, a second case was initiated against Bachiashvili, accusing him of negligence during his tenure as general director of the Co-Investment Fund. He was again subjected to bail and travel bans. Bachiashvili has consistently denied these allegations, labeling them as fabricated and indicative of political persecution.
Photo source: BM.ge
