On May 2, in response to the question regarding the possible sanctioning of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the Georgian Dream party, Kakha Kaladze, the Secretary General of Georgian Dream and Mayor of Tbilisi, said that Bidzina Ivanishvili really could not be blackmailed with financial sanctions, he will not take any wrong step against the country or people - they do not know the phenomenon of Bidzina Ivanishvili. 

According to Kaladze, the formal sanctioning of Ivanishvili will have no result. "Whatever their desire is, whatever their goal is, for which they are taking these steps, they will not get results because they do not know Bidzina Ivanishvili. They really cannot blackmail Bidzina Ivanishvili with financial sanctions and will not make him take the wrong steps against the country or people. They do not know the phenomenon of Bidzina Ivanishvili, and this is a sad reality," Kaladze added.

At the plenary sitting in the parliament on the same day, Levan Khabeishvili, Chair of the opposition United National Movement (UNM) party, stated that political and banking oligarchy and mafia rule are established in Georgia with the Russian oligarch in power.

Khabeishvili said 600 thousand of citizens have bank loans as per 2022 statistics, while the 'banking mafia' sets the interest rates instead of the free market. He also highlighted the net profit, saying it has increased 15 times compared to 2012, the period of UNM's rule. Khabeishvili also stressed that Georgian nationals pay 5-7 higher mortgage interests than in EU countries. "That’s why Bidzina Ivanishvili and the Russian Dream do not want the European Union, because they will no longer be able to rob people," Khabeishvili claimed.

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