[Civilge] Giorgi Ramishvili, a prominent Georgian businessman and founder of the Silk Road Group, was arrested on July 6, with police claiming he was carrying a firearm in his hand luggage at the departures terminal of Tbilisi International Airport.
Law enforcement officers “seized a firearm, a magazine, and cartridges while examining [Ramishvili’s] hand luggage through a scanner,” the Georgian Interior Ministry reported late on July 6, hours after initial reports of his arrest.
According to the Ministry, the firearm was registered in Ramishvili’s name, but he did not hold a license to carry it. The investigation has been launched under Parts 3 and 4 of Article 236 of the Criminal Code, which concern the illegal carrying and transportation of firearms and ammunition and carry a penalty of up to nine years in prison.
Silk Road Group brings together several major companies, including Silknet, a leading local communications provider. Silknet has also introduced international media products to Georgia, including a Georgian broadcast of Euronews and the publication of a local version of the National Geographic magazine.
SHADOW OF INTERNAL PURGES
The report of Ramishvili’s arrest comes amid what is seen as mounting pressure on current and former figures in political and business circles close to the ruling Georgian Dream party and its founder, Bidzina Ivanishvili.
Former Deputy Economy Minister Romeo Mikautadze was arrested in June on corruption-related charges, facing up to 12 years in prison. Earlier, Ivanishvili’s former associate Giorgi Bachiashvili, convicted in absentia for allegedly misappropriating cryptocurrency, was arrested after what Bachiashvili argued was his abduction from a foreign land with the direct involvement of State Security Service Head Anri Okhanashvili. In May, the court sentenced businessman Giorgi Chikvaidze and his associate to eight and nine years in prison, respectively, on charges of embezzling funds
Several high-ranking officials, including ministers known to have enjoyed Ivanishvili’s trust, left their posts over the past few months.
Coincidentally, the Georgian Dream-dominated parliament is pushing through a legislative package that would bar individuals convicted of financial crimes from leaving the country, even after they have served their sentence. The legislation, which has passed two readings and is expected to be adopted during the fall session, introduces radical measures to recover embezzled or stolen funds, including from the convict’s relatives. It also prohibits those relatives from providing financial assistance to the offender on pain of criminal prosecution. This legislation is believed to serve Ivanishvili’s drive to punish those, including former business associates, whom he suspects of misusing his funds and breaching trust.
Two days before Ramishvili’s arrest, GD Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze held a meeting with businesspeople. According to the official press release, the meeting touched on “positive trends in the country’s economy and the high economic growth pace.”
Salome Zurabishvili, Georgia’s fifth president, linked Ramishvili’s arrest with broader Georgian Dream repression. “After activists, journalists, political leaders, the arrests are now turning to big business! Today’s most recent case is that of George Ramishvili, owner of a major internet provider, founder of Euronews Georgia and an old-time business partner of D.Trump,” Zurabishvili wrote on X. 
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