Bidzina Ivanishvili Quotes

All the therapists would tell me was that I was the only healthy person they knew.

I do yoga every day, some sport, have a meal once a day, eat some fruit, and drink one glass of wine. And once a month I gather together my close friends. But my wife and I do not like conspicuous luxury.

I have always lived according to my conscience, and my past is clean.

The economy is governed through cartel agreements and monopoly. The attorney general is the one who‘s controlling funds. There is no free business in Georgia.

I was forced to come into politics because Saakashvili had destroyed the opposition. I had a choice either to leave the country, because it was dangerous to live here, or to go into politics.

I would like to become the prime minister, do the job for two years, and then leave and devote myself to public work.

I decided to go into politics because of our Soviet-style government.

With respect to Euro–Atlantic integration, we have to realize that we need to normalize the relationships with our neighbors, and especially with Russia.

Restoration of friendship with Russia, our biggest neighbor, is necessary for our peace and economy.

I travel as much as I can and meet people.

If you come to Georgia, you can open up a company in a day. You yourself can come tomorrow and establish a company in a day, and you’re not halted by paperwork.

There is a real and evident problem of democracy in Georgia, and this was the core reason of my entrance into politics. We have no rule of law. It’s absolutely absent.

Any private security is a joke in a country where you’re up against your own government.

Since the whole village was poor, we didn’t realize our own poverty. I was happy.

My only hobby is going for walks outdoors.

I may not be a politician, but I will fight to the end of my life for what I believe in.

I get no pleasure from politics; it’s not in my character.

My main capital isn’t the money. I respect myself; I respect my country.

There are eight different breeds of peacock. I have them all.

I was writing my Ph.D. in the late 1980s and was keeping an eye on what was happening in the world. It became obvious to me that Russia couldn’t live without computers. I think I worked this out a year before anyone else. I started looking for people who could help import them.

I did not like formal meetings, because they took away my freedom. I just liked to spend time with my friends, where I could be myself and did not need to don a mask.

In Georgia, people had already understood that communism couldn’t survive, and I came to the institute in Moscow, and people still believed in it. They were completely different people, and I found it very difficult psychologically.