GEORGIA has been known for excess and eccentricity since ancient times, when it was called Colchis, the home of Medea and the Golden Fleece in Greek mythology. But even by Georgian standards, the latest hobby of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the country’s richest and most powerful man, is extravagant. The reclusive oligarch, whose hilltop glass-and-steel castle towers over Tbilisi, the capital, buys the oldest and tallest trees in the country, digs them out and transports them by road and ship to his residence on the Black Sea.
Most Georgians are amused, and hope he will buy one of theirs. But the image of a 100-year-old, 650-tonne tulip tree sailing over the water is an apt symbol for Mr Ivanishvili’s role in Georgia. The billionaire, who holds no official post but pulls strings from behind the scenes, is changing not only its physical but its political landscape. He has also uprooted the largest figure in Georgian public life, former...Continue reading
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