Badri Patarkatsishvili

Infobox Celebrity
name = Badri Patarkatsishvili


image_size =
caption = Badri Patarkatsishvili
birth_date = birth date|1955|10|31|df=yes
birth_place = Tbilisi, flagicon|Georgian SSR Georgian SSR
death_date = death date and age|2008|2|12|1955|10|31|df=y
death_place = Leatherhead, Surrey, flagicon|UK United Kingdom
occupation = Former Owner and CEO of Imedi, Oligarch, and Politician
spouse = Ina Gudavadze
website =
footnotes =
networth = 12 Billion before death, assets frozen or confiscated by Georgian Government Arkady "Badri" Patarkatsishvili ( _ka. ბადრი პატარკაციშვილი October 31, 1955, Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union – February 12, 2008, Leatherhead, Surrey, United Kingdom) was a wealthy Georgian Jewish businessman, who was also extensively involved in politics. He contested the 2008 Georgian presidential election and came third with 7.1% of the votes. Although his first name was Arkady, he was best-known by the nickname "Badri". [ cite web
url= http://www.regnum.ru/news/fd-abroad/georgia/923062.html
title= В избирательных бюллетенях Бадри Патаркацишвили будет Аркадием (Грузия)
publisher= Regnum
date= 2007-11-28 ]

Early life

Born in Tbilisi to a Jewish family, Patarkatsishvili's membership of the Soviet Communist party's youth wing, the Komsomol, gave him contacts he found useful later. Between 1994 and 2001, he lived in Moscow. To avoid prosecution on charges of alleged fraud in Russia, he moved to Tbilisi. [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/15/georgia.russia/ "Obituary: Badri Patarkatsishvili", Tom Parfitt, "The Guardian", London, 02-15-2008] .Accessed: 04-05-2008.] (Patarkatsishvili's business activities had made him the richest man in Georgia with an estimated wealth of $ 12 billion. [ [http://www.geotimes.ge/index.php?m=home&newsid=3190/ "The Richest Georgians of the World. "Georgian Times", 04-06-2008] .Accessed: 04-05-2008.] In his Russian business deals, he was closely associated with Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky. In 1992, he became a deputy chief executive of Berezovsky's LogoVAZ group.

In January 1995, Patarkatsishvili became deputy chief executive with responsibility for finance at Russia's ORT TV. [ [http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=420&issue_id=4338&article_id=2372690/ "Badri patarkatsishvili: from Russian businessman to Georgian presidential claimant (Part One)", Vladimir Socor, Jamestown Foundation, Washington DC, 12-21-2007] .Accessed: 04-05-2008.] In March – May 2001, he was chief executive of Russia's TV6 channel, which, like ORT, was partly owned by Berezovsky. Early in 2006, he bought out Berezovskys stake in Moscow's independent Kommersant publishing house, which he sold on in August that year to senior Gazprom executive Alisher Usmanov. [ [http://business-in-russia.com/headlineitem_nn_1_id_1049/ " Kommersant newspaper sold out", Alliance Media, Moscow, quoting RosBusinessConsulting, 09-03-2006] .Accessed: 04-05-2008.]

In 1997, he oversaw the privatization of the Sibneft oil company in auctions that later seemed to have been fixed. [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article3364940.ece/ "Badri Patarkatsishvili", unsigned obituary, "The Times", London, 02-14-2008] . Accessed 04-06-2008.] Berezovsky snapped up the stake on offer for a fraction of the market value. [ [http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=420&issue_id=4338&article_id=2372690/ " Badri Patarkatsishvili: From Russian businessman to Georgian presidential claimant (Part One)", Vladimir Socor, "Jamestown Foundation", Washington DC, 12-21-2007] .Accessed 04-06-2008.]

Allegations of corruption

In June 2001, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office charged him with organizing an attempted escape from prison of Nikolay Glushkov - and, in October 2002, with involvement in an alleged grand fraud related to the AvtoVAZ case.

In 2007, numerous allegations of corruption were made against him. He was impeached as president of the Georgian National Olympic Committee, and also quit as a president of Georgian Business Federation. Georgian officials turned largely vocal about Patarkatsishvili's murky past. Tbilisi-based Rustavi 2 TV linked his name with several notorious murders in Russia and Georgia, including the assassination of Vlad Listyev.

Connection with Roman Abramovich and Boris Berezovsky

According to The Times [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4272509.ece Roman Abramovich admits paying out billions on political favours] ] , Roman Abramovich submitted a 53-page court defence that accused Boris Berezovsky and Badri Patarkatsishvili of demanding huge sums for helping him to rise from obscurity. Arkady “Badri” Patarkatsishvili, emerges as the key intermediary, passing messages between Abramovich and Berezovsky. Mr Patarkatsishvili was offered $500 million by Roman Abramovich, the defence papers that were submitted admit, for protecting Roman in Russia's aluminium wars.

Involvement in politics

Patarkatsishvili claimed to have helped Russian president Vladimir Putin to make his career. [ Based on text of his taped conversation with Erekle Kodua [http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=850966 Full text in Russian] published in Kommersant ] He had, he said, recommended Putin to Pavel Borodin, then a senior member of President Boris Yeltsin's Kremlin administration [ [http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=851013 Difficulties of translation from Georgian] , Kommersant, February 12, 2008 ] - and his business partner Boris Berezovsky, a Yeltsin insider, had got Putin appointed as Russian FSB director.

In late 2007, he became embroiled in a political scandal after former defense minister Irakli Okruashvili on September 25, 2007 accused Mikheil Saakashvili, the President of Georgia, of planning Patarkatsishvili's assassination. Arrested on corruption charges, however, Okruashvili retracted his accusations against the president, winning release on bail of 10 million Georgian lari (about 6,250,000 USD). He also said that his earlier accusations levelled against Saakashvili were not true and were aimed at gaining political dividends for himself and Badri Patarkatsishvili and at discrediting the President of Georgia. [ [http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=15975 Okruashvili May Be Freed on Bail after Pleading Guilty] . Civil Georgia, 2007-10-08.] [ [http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/08/europe/EU-GEN-Georgia-Opposition.php Court sets Georgia's former defense minister free on bail] . Associated Press ("International Herald Tribune"). October 8, 2007.] On November 6, Okruashvili, said on Patarkatsishvili's Imedi TV - by then managed by Fox TV's parent News Corporation [ [http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav032608b.shtml/ "News Corporation: A farewell to Georgia?", Giorgi Lomsadze, "Eurasia Insight", Eurasianet.org, New York, NY, 03-26-08] .Accessed: 04-06-2008.] - that he had been forced into retracting his accusations against Saakashvili by pressure that he endured in prison. Down the line from Munich, he said: "All of those accusations, all of those facts that I brought against Saakashvili, everything I said about him is the plain truth." [ [http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/11/129F6DA9-B5B6-400D-9160-EA0E53BAA35F.html/ "Firebrand Okruashvili’s Televised Return Boosts Opposition", Radio Free Europe, 11-06-2007] .Accessed: 04-06-2008.]

On October 29, 2007, he publicly announced his plans to finance ten opposition parties' campaign aimed at holding early parliamentary elections in April 2008. [ [http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=16119 Patarkatsishvili Pledges to Finance Protest Rallies] . Civil Georgia. 2007-10-28.] On November 2, 2007, he addressed a large anti-government rally held in downtown Tbilisi and pledged to further support it. [ [http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=16169 Patarkatsishvili Addresses Protest Rally] . Civil Georgia. 2007-11-02.] He left Georgia for London shortly afterwards. After the demonstration turned violent on November 7, 2007, Georgia's Chief Prosecutor's Office announced that he was suspected of conspiracy to overthrow the government. [ [http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=16273 Patarkatsishvili Suspected of "Coup Plotting"] . Civil Georgia. November 9, 2007.] Nevertheless, he said he would run in the January 5 2008 snap presidential elections under the slogan "Georgia without Saakashvili is Georgia without Terror." [ [http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=16288 Patarkatsishvili Says he will Run for Presidency] . Civil Georgia. 2007-11-10.] Leaders of the major opposition parties distanced themselves from Patarkatsishvili, who had to run as an independent presidential candidate. [ [http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=16289 In Quotes: Opposition Leaders on Patarkatsishvili’s Presidential Bid] . Civil Georgia. 2007-11-10.]

On December 24 and 25, 2007, the prosecutor-general's office of Georgia released a series of audio and video recordings of the two separate meetings of the high-ranking Georgian Interior Ministry official Erekle Kodua with Patarkatsishvili and the head of his pre-election campaign Valeri Gelbakhiani. According to these materials, Patarkatsishvili was trying to bribe Kodua to take part in what the Georgian officilas described as an attempted coup d'état on January 6 2008, the next of the scheduled presidential elections. The plan included to stage a mass manifestation against the government and to "neutralize" the Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili. The accusations forced Patarkatsishvili onto the defensive. He confirmed that he met with Kodua in London, but denied that the bribe was in connection to an alleged coup plot and claimed instead that his intention was to uncover what he said were official plans to rig the election. He also confirmed that he offered Kodua "a huge amount of money" in exchange for defecting from the authorities allegedly to avert a possible use of force by the government against the planned January rallies. [ [http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=16653 Patarkatsishvili Ally a Suspect in Coup Plot] . Civil Georgia / 2007-12-24 13:22:55.] [ [http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=16668 More ‘Coup Plot’ Tapes Released] . Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 2007-12-25 20:33:27.] [ [http://www.geotimes.ge/index.php?m=home&newsid=8395 Patarkatsishvili Forced onto Defensive] . Georgian Times [Civil Georgia] . 2007.12.26 12:52.]

On December 28, 2007, Patarkatsishvili announced that he would withdraw his bid for presidency, but would nominally remain a candidate until January 4, 2008. [ [http://www.civil.ge/eng/detail.php?id=16704 Patarkatsishvili Nominally Remains in Race] . Civil Georgia. 2007-12-28.] On January 3, 2008, he reversed himself, however, and decided to run in presidential elections. In response, his top campaign official Giorgi Zhvania (brother of the late Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania) resigned, declaring that Patarkasishvili did not have the unquestionable reputation one would expect of a country's president. [ [http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-01-03-voa70.cfm Georgian Media Tycoon Returns to Presidential Race] . Voice of America. January 03, 2008.]

Interest in sports

Patarkatsishvali was chairman of the Dinamo Tbilisi soccer club.He served as president of the Georgian National Olympic Committee (GNOC), until being impeached on October 9, 2007. [ [http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=15985 Georgian Olympic Committee Impeaches Patarkatsishvili] .Civil Georgia. 2007-10-09.]

Death

Patarkatsishvili, aged 52, collapsed at Downside Manor, his mansion in Leatherhead, Surrey, England on February 12 2008 at 10.45 pm. Ambulance crew members tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate the businessman, who was pronounced dead at 10.52 pm. [http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/2008/02/15/georgian-billionaire-badri-patarkatsishvili-had-severe-heart-disease-inquest-hears-89520-20320519/] As in any other case of unexpected death, Surrey police treated the case as "suspicious" and launched an official investigation. [cite web
title = Georgia tycoon death 'suspicious'
publisher = BBC News
date=2008-02-13
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7242234.stm
accessdate = 2008-02-13]

The businessman spent his last day in the City of London office of international law firm Debevoise and Plimpton, meeting his business partner Boris Berezovsky, his spokesperson Lord Bell and his lawyer Lord Goldsmith QC, as well as fellow exiles, the Russians Nikolai Glushkov and Yuli Dubov [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article3365806.ece Badri Patarkatsishvili: exiled oligarch who lived in the shadow of death] ] From the City he left for Down Street, Mayfair, to visit Berezovsky's office, and at 7.00 pm was returned to Leatherhead with his Maybach. Shortly after dining, Patarkatsishvili told his family he felt unwell and went upstairs to his bedroom where he was found unconscious after a heart attack. [ [http://www.kommersant.com/p852637/r_538/Badri_Patarkatsishvili_died_in_London_this_Wednesday Badri Patarkatsishvili, a Death Too Strange & Sudden - Kommersant Moscow ] ]

Preliminary reports indicated a heart attack as the cause of death. [cite web
title = Prominent Georgian businessman and opposition leader Patarkatsisvhili dies (Part 2)
publisher = Interfax
date =2008-02-13
url = http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?id_issue=11966390
accessdate = 2008-02-13] According to the first post-mortem tests, the death of Patarkatsishvili appeared to have been from natural cardiac-related causes. According to the pathologist Ashley Fegan-Earl, he could identify a "severity that could have resulted in a sudden and unexplained collapse and death at any time." He also concluded that chest pain that Patarkatsishvili had had and a sudden collapse "were consistent with death due to coronary heart diseases." [ [http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/2008/02/15/georgian-billionaire-badri-patarkatsishvili-had-severe-heart-disease-inquest-hears-89520-20320519/ Georgian billionaire Badri Patarkatsishvili had severe heart disease, inquest hears - Mirror.co.uk ] ] Patarkatsishvili's father Shalva Patarkatsishvili also died of a heart attack at an early age of 48. The businessman had no history of illness but was reported to have led an unhealthy lifestyle, smoking excessively and taking no exercise. According to Lord Bell, "he [Badri] always looked 10 years older than he was." [ [http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/2008/02/14/police-in-poison-probe-after-georgian-billionaire-badri-patarkatsishvili-is-found-dead-89520-20318919/ Police in poison probe after Georgian billionaire Badri Patarkatsishvili is found dead - Mirror.co.uk ] ] However, theories of a possible assassination were considered seriously by some. " [A] number of compounds known to be used by the former KGB can induce heart failure, but leave virtually no trace. One is sodium fluoroacetate, a fine white powder derived from pesticide." [ [http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23437696-details/The+dead+billionaire+and+the+'KGB+poison+killer'/article.do The dead billionaire and the 'KGB poison killer'] Keith Dovkants, Evening Standard ] The British police checked Patarkatishvili's Surrey mansion for radioactive elements but reportedly found none. [ [http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article800046.ece Exiled tycoon feared for life | Georgian billionaire | Badri Patarkatsishvili | The Sun |HomePage|News ] ]

British press coverage

"London Lite" was first newspaper to inform the British public of the Georgian oligarch's death on the evening of 13 February 2008. In the news of 14 February 2008, Patarkatsishvili's death was covered in The Guardian, The Times, Financial Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, etc. Most newspapers discussed Patarkatsishvili's business history, including his close ties with Boris Berezovsky, Roman Abramovich, Alexander Litvinenko, Mikheil Saakashvili and Vladimir Putin. [ [http://digital.guardian.co.uk/ The Guardian and Observer Digital Editions ] ] [http://specials.ft.com/vtf_pdf/140208_FRONT1_LON.pdf ]

International press coverage

Reuters reported that Patarkatsishvili feared the Georgian authorities were plotting to kill him, a source close to the late businessman said on the day of death." [cite web
title = Georgian Patarkatsishvili feared murder plot
publisher = Reuters
date=2008-02-13
url = http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSL1374183820080213
accessdate = 2008-02-13]

Associated Press reported that on December 26 2007, Patarkatsishvili said that he had obtained a tape recording of an official in his homeland's Interior Ministry asking a Chechen warlord to murder the tycoon in London. "I believe they want to kill me," he said. He said the tape had been given to police. [cite web
title = UK Cops Examine Georgian Tycoon's Death
publisher = Associated Press
date=2008-02-13
url = http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h1Ha4ZDM64Yb3ar5AqjABuytAtPAD8UPKJUO1
accessdate = 2008-02-13]

"Novaya Gazeta" reported the following information. Patarkatsishvili, living in London, was approached by members of the Saakashvili government demanding that he sell his controlling share in the dissident Imedi TV network. Initially, Patarkatsishvili refused, but was then offered an unprecedented deal: exchanging ownership of Imedi for ownership of the entire Georgian railroad system. Being a businessman, Patarkatsishvili reportedly agreed; however, when the Saakashvili side sent him the contract, there was a new clause, which required Badri to invest $2,000,000,000 in the "improvement" of the railroad property. He refused, but died shortly after. Novaya Gazeta's source is one of the lawyers from the legal side of this deal. [cite web
title = Особое мнение. Дмитрий Муратов.
publisher = Echo of Moscow
date=2008-02-13
url = http://www.echo.msk.ru/programs/personalno/58679
accessdate = 2008-02-13] [cite web
title = Сделка не состоялась. Чем занимался в последние дни перед смертью Бадри Патаркацишвили (in Russian).
publisher = Novaya Gazeta
date=2008-02-14
url = http://novayagazeta.ru/data/2008/11/01.html
accessdate = 2008-02-16] [cite web
title = Незадолго до смерти Бадри Патаркацишвили власти Грузии предлагали ему взамен телекомпании "Имеди" грузинские железные дороги (in Russian)?
publisher = Regnum News Agency
date=2008-02-14
url = http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:eDe2yA3Ez4wJ:www.regnum.ru/news/956905.html
accessdate = 2008-02-16]

References

External links

* [http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=17090 Badri Patarkatsishvili] , "Civil Georgia"'s profile. 2008-02-13
*ka icon [http://newsgeorgia.ge/society/20080228/42164814.html Patarkatsishvili: The Oligarch's Way.] "NewsGeorgia"'s profile. 2008-02-38