Nate Sibley: Kleptocrats like Ivanishvili should fear British sanctions

Ivanishvili should fear British sanctions

Nate Sibley, Director of the Kleptocracy Studies Centre at the Hudson Institute, has published an article on Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of Georgian Dream and the de facto leader of Georgia. In the article, Sibley asserts that kleptocrats like Ivanishvili should not be able to exploit British overseas territories to launder stolen wealth.

“If they continue to do so, they should henceforth live in fear that the UK will use its sanctions power to hold them accountable,” Sibley stated.

What did Nate Sibley say?

Sibley highlights that British overseas territories have long been seen as convenient tax havens, but their role as global hubs for money laundering has increasingly come under scrutiny. He notes that the UK government is now under significant pressure to enhance financial transparency and crack down on the flow of “dirty” money.

UK sanctions may target over 95 companies linked to Ivanishvili family

All these companies are ultimately registered in UK offshore territories.

According to Sibley, authorities should pay special attention to the fact that many “enemies of the West” exploit the financial secrecy provided by British offshore jurisdictions.

The article highlights that policies aimed at attracting wealthy individuals to British overseas territories have also drawn criminals, who, for obvious reasons, go to great lengths to conceal their financial activities from the authorities in their home countries.

“The UK therefore bears some responsibility for facilitating the rise of China, Russia, Iran, and other kleptocratic dictatorships that, having consolidated their rule at home, now turn their sights on upending the global order and supplanting the West.

<…> One urgent example of this is Bidzina Ivanishvili, the would-be dictator of Georgia. His ruling political party, Georgian Dream, has made no secret of its plan to subvert the population’s aspirations for European Union membership and instead drag Georgia back under Russia’s control. 

Ivanishvili has also opened his country, and Europe, to the pernicious influence of the Chinese Communist Party by inviting US-sanctioned Chinese state-owned companies to build a strategically significant deep-water port.”

Georgian Dream: "If UK sanctions Ivanishvili, it means the deep state has taken over"

Quote: “The traditions of England have been trampled by the British government in the 21st century.” And a brief overview of sanctions already imposed on Georgian officials

Sibley emphasizes that in December 2024, the United Kingdom joined U.S. sanctions by adding five senior Georgian officials to its sanctions list for their role in the brutal suppression of peaceful protests in Georgia.

“In January, the US went one step further and imposed long-overdue sanctions on Bidzina Ivanishvili himself. The UK has yet to follow, while the EU has been unable to act because of the now-predictable vetoes by Russia-friendly Hungarian and Slovak leaders.

Transparency International Georgia has identified 95 companies controlled by Ivanishvili that are registered in the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands.

As BOTs, these islands are required to enforce the sanctions by banning any transactions with the companies and freezing any assets owned by them.

Kleptocrats like Ivanishvili are rarely foolish enough to keep all their eggs in one basket. It is unlikely that his overseas financial assets are in BVI or Cayman bank accounts but located in other jurisdictions with similarly lax oversight but better financial sectors,” the article says.

Nate Sibley reports that MP James McCleary has introduced a motion in the UK House of Commons to impose sanctions on Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder and honorary chairman of the Georgian Dream party.

“MacCleary is not the only parliamentarian to have noticed the UK’s strange delay in acting against Ivanishvili. Representative Joe Wilson (R-SC), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and chair of the Helsinki Committee in Congress, has also called on the UK to “immediately sanction CCP crony Bidzina Ivanishvili, his immediate family, and his network of enablers,” Sibley says.

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Reactions to Nate Sibley’s article

Joe Wilson, Chairman of the Helsinki Commission and U.S. Congressman, thanked Sibley and the Hudson Institute for their persistent call urging the UK to impose sanctions on Ivanishvili, his family members, and his associates.

“Ivanishvili rigged Georgia’s elections and is selling the country to the CCP, War Criminal Putin, and the Iranian regime,” Wilson said on X.