Kobakhidze: alleged phone conversation between Ivanishvili, Russian oligarch ‘nonsense’

Head of the ruling Georgian Dream party Irakli Kobakhidze says that an alleged phone conversation between the founder of the party Bidzina Ivanishvili and Russian oligarch Vladimir Yevtushenkov, released by the opposition-minded TV Pirveli channel, is nonsense.

 

 “Firstly, the audio recording is nonsense, the other thing is that  we do  not know if it is authentic or not. We do not have the opportunity to verify this in any way,” Kobakhidzed said, noting that the channel could have obtained it via the Russian source. 

 

“It is also interesting what the source was. The source could not have been the Georgian side naturally. It is interesting whether the source was from Russia,” he said, adding that the Russian businessman is being repressed by Russian authorities.

 

In the audio which was allegedly recorded back on February 18, 2022 the Russian businessman congratulates Ivanishvili on his birthday and promises a visit in Tbilisi.