Press center of the Georgian Dream responds to the article of Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project [OCCRP].

“We would like to once again respond to the information released by the OCCRP in response to our statement about Bidzina Ivanishvili, the Honorary Chairman of Georgian Dream.

We remind the public that a few days ago, the mentioned organization spread a lie, as if the Ivanishvili family bought property in Moscow months ago. Based on the fact that after 1998, the Honorary Chairman of the ruling team and his family members did not buy any property in Russia. Moreover, they did not travel to this country, we easily exposed false information with unmistakable facts.

It seems that the media with a certain reputation felt uncomfortable due to being exposed in a lie and released another absurd statement to justify itself. OCCRP writes that their article was not about Bidzina Ivanishvili, but about his spouse, Ekaterine Khvedelidze. The possession of property in Russia, which this organization tried to describe as a “newly discovered scandal”, was first made public by Bidzina Ivanishvili when he filled out the property declaration in 2013 and, in accordance with the law, indicated the assets in the names of family members, including his wife.

At the same time, the organization that claims to be “investigative journalism” should know that the declaration form has the column of family members because it is considered common property and their justification, as if the article was only about Ekaterine Khvedelidze and not about Bidzina Ivanishvili, is a weak attempt to get away from lies.

Once again, we are convinced that there was no alternative decision when we refrained from cooperation with this organization. We hope that next time articles of similar content will at least meet the minimum standards of integrity and competence”, - reads the statement.