On February 15 the Georgian Times published a list of the richest Georgians, reported Civil Georgia citing the newspaper. The list consists of 81 individuals operating in and outside Georgia. It featured businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili at the top of the ranking, with personal assets worth a total of $12 billion. The list also included the former Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili, with $250 million, and Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli, with $75 million. The newspaper did not go into details about the methodology that was used in compiling the list. According to the news source, the Georgian Times wrote a disclaimer, noting that the information provided might include “some minor inaccuracies”, since the assets of many Georgian businessmen are not transparent and the data was collected mostly through anonymous sources. For example, although the newspaper quotes Bidzina (Boris) Ivanishvili’s assets as being worth $8 billion, by the ranking provided by Forbes magazine in 2006, his worth was estimated at $3.9 billion. The Georgian Times list also included Aslan Abashidze, the ex-leader of the Adjara Autonomous Republic, with $1 billion in assets.

This information was originally published on February 15, 2007 (www.civil.ge)

 

-- 03/08/2007