The US has denied information about sanctions imposed on Ivanishvili and his family members
The US has not imposed sanctions on the founder of Georgia's ruling party, billionaire, former Russian citizen Bidzina Ivanishvili and his family members. This was reported to the Georgian service of Radio Liberty by the US Embassy in Tbilisi.
"The US Treasury will publicly disclose all financial sanctions," the diplomatic department assured.
Thus, the US Embassy has denied the information published by the Georgian opposition TV channel Formula on October 2.
According to TV Formula, access to the bank accounts of the children of the founder of Georgia's ruling party Bidzina Ivanishvili, who live abroad, has been restricted. The TV channel reported that financial institutions have completely blocked access to a number of accounts of the politician's family members, and some of them have been transferred to pre-sanction mode with limited financial resources. This means that banks make decisions on placing an account holder or a related person under sanctions based on information provided by the US Treasury or State Department or European institutions.
In addition, according to information from the Georgian channel Mtavari Arkhi, oligarch Ivanishvili received a letter several days ago that likely concerned the expected financial sanctions.
In September, the Georgian service of Voice of America (VOA), citing senior US officials, reported that the US was considering imposing sanctions against the founder of the Georgian Dream party, Bidzina Ivanishvili. It was noted that the work on the sanctions package would be carried out by the US Treasury and State Departments.
“We have information that Ivanishvili has taken steps to develop relations with Russian oligarchs in order to provide Russia with better access to the Georgian market. In fact, he has taken certain actions on the instructions of Russian intelligence,” a senior US government official said.
The US has previously imposed a number of visa and financial restrictions on Georgian politicians, officials, security officials and businessmen. The reason is the undermining of democracy and the adoption of anti-democratic laws.
