The UK Parliament recently discussed the assets of Georgian Dream leaders in the British Virgin Islands. During a Foreign Affairs Committee session, Philip Brickell, a Labour Party member, questioned Foreign Secretary David Lammy on the matter.
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In Georgia, leading members of the pro-Russian Georgian Dream party, while crushing civil society and cracking down on the Georgian people’s civil liberties, have allegedly used British Virgin Islands-registered companies to secrete and hide their wealth behind a veil of financial secrecy,” the British MP stated.
Brickell highlighted that since the adoption of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act in 2018, the British Virgin Islands has missed deadlines to introduce publicly accessible registers of beneficial ownership.
“What message do you think that sends to the world at large?" the MP asked David Lammy.
“It sends a terrible message. It is one that we continue to discuss with the British Virgin Islands—and we are serious. That is why I will be having a conference later next year on illicit finance. It is why I asked Dame Margaret Hodge to support us in our efforts to grip this issue and rally the international community. There is more to come from the Department.
I am not on the detail of the case that you raise about Georgia and corrupt activity there, but I will look at it closely, and we will make those representations to the British Virgin Islands,” the British Foreign Secretary responded.
Should the United Kingdom impose sanctions on Bidzina Ivanishvili and his family members, a significant portion of their companies would likely be affected. As of January, Ivanishvili reportedly had over 95 companies registered in UK offshore territories, specifically the Virgin and Cayman Islands. These include well-known entities such as Cartu Bank, Cartu Foundation, Galleria Tbilisi, Axis Towers, Heidelberg Cement, Paragraph, and Poti Free Industrial Zone.
Following the US Treasury Department's financial sanctions on Bidzina Ivanishvili in December 2024, the Ivanishvili family began transferring their companies from offshore zones to Georgia. According to Transparency International – Georgia, between December 31, 2024, and January 20, 2025, Bidzina Ivanishvili, his wife Ekaterine Khvedelidze, and his son Uta Ivanishvili registered four new joint-stock companies: JSC ATU Holding, JSC Tera, JSC Lusoli, and JSC GCF Georgia. They then started re-registering Georgian companies, which they previously owned through offshore entities, to these newly formed companies.
The United Kingdom sanctioned Georgian Dream officials in December of last year and April 2025 for violence against protestors, media, and opposition representatives. Among them were Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri, his deputies Aleksandre Darakhvelidze and Shalva Bedoidze, as well as Zviad Kharazishvili, Director of the Special Tasks Department, his deputies Mileri Lagazauri and Mirza Kezevadze, Prosecutor General Giorgi Gabitashvili, and Karlo Katsitadze, Head of the Special Investigation Service. Of the listed individuals, only Aleksandre Darakhvelidze remains in office. In recent months, Gomelauri, Bedoidze, Kharazishvili, Lagazauri, and Kezevadze were dismissed. Giorgi Gabitashvili was removed from the position of Prosecutor General and appointed as General Auditor. As of July 1, the Special Investigation Service and the position of its head were abolished.
The United Kingdom has a strict sanctions regime. The financial sanctions it imposes include asset freezes, and the suspension of access to financial services, resources, and markets.
