Tbilisi Sees Russia-Based Expat Tycoon Behind Possible Destabilization

President Saakashvili’s spokesperson said Alexander Ebralidze, a St. Petersburg-based tycoon, who announced about intention to run for Georgian presidency in 2013, might be used by Russia to stage “destabilization” in Georgia.

“At this stage Ebralidze is reserved [by Russia] as a major driving force in the condition of possible destabilization [in Georgia], wherein some Georgian politicians also find their place. As it seems Russia can only speak adequately with Georgians like Ebralidze and not with democratically elected Georgian government,” Manana Manjgaladze, the Georgian President’s spokesperson, said on December 15.

“Russia has the only goal – collapse of the Georgian statehood; all of its actions are dictated by this goal. All of its actions and statements are directed towards demoralization of the Georgian people and breaking down the Georgian people’s will for resistance,” she said.

Alexander Ebralidze, an ethnic Georgian originally from Batumi, has been living in Russia for over thirty years already. In May, 2009 he announced about having ambition to become a president of Georgia. He made the announcement at an assembly of World Congress of the Nations of Georgia (WCNG), the organization he founded earlier this year.

On December 15 in St. Petersburg Ebralidze was hosting a conference of, as WCNG said, “Georgian peoples’ diasporas abroad” to coordinate efforts and “to unite for democratization and unification of our historic homeland” – Georgia.

“Those who do not want to change the current situation in the Georgian government, which leads the country to the abyss, benefit from disintegration [of Georgians living abroad],” WCNG said in a statement.

Ebralidze was little known personality in Georgia, but gained publicity starting from May, especially after announcing about his presidential ambitions. He was widely covered by the Georgian national television stations and even was interviewed live by Rustavi 2 TV’s popular weekly program Kurieri P.S. on May 30.

An influential lawmaker from the ruling party, Givi Targamadze, blamed Ebralidze of being a financial backer of “a failed mutiny” by Mukhrovani-based tank battalion on May 5. Ebralidze accused MP Targamadze of smear campaign and sued him in the Tbilisi court.

Ebralidze’s name was once mentioned during the ongoing trail into the Mukhrovani mutiny. A prosecution’s witness, a former serviceman of the Tbilisi-based rangers battalion, told the court on October 8 that in late April his former commander Levan Amiridze, who at the time was a commander of the rangers battalion, offered him to take part in the planned mutiny. The witness said that Amiridze, who is charged with attempted coup and disobedience (he admitted disobedience but denies coup plotting charges), allegedly told him that the mutiny and subsequent coup was financed by Ebralidze.

The prosecution’s case against the Mukhrovani trial defendants does not claim that the alleged mutiny was linked with Russia. The prosecution’s files, however, also include a phrase while listing the alleged organizers of the mutiny: “Koba Otanadze [a retired army colonel], Shota Gorgiashvili [ex-commander of the Mukhrovani-based tank battalion], Levan Amiridze [all three among defendants] and some other persons not identified by the investigation.” According to prosecutors, the investigation is still ongoing to identify others.

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