Patarkatsishvili family hope to get his assets back
TBILISI. Feb 1 (Interfax) - The relatives of late Georgian billionaire Badri Patarkatsishvili said they are hoping they can get back Patarkatsishvili's assets, which are now being held by Georgia's former Economic Minister Vano Chkhartishvili.
"We have specific evidence that the Business Federation building in Tbilisi, the Poti Grain Plant, the tobacco factory, the Tbilisi store - and that's just a short list of assets - mysteriously fell into the hands of Mr. Chkhartishvili immediately after Patarkatsishvili's death," the Patarkatsishvili family said in a statement released on Friday.
The billionaire's family have denied the allegations by Chkhartishvili, who has now emigrated to London, that the litigation between them was initiated by "some regime and someone impeded the negotiation process."
The family reiterate that they will continue filing lawsuits against him in the West, saying they are confident they will be successful.
"Under the previous [Georgian] administration, it was virtually impossible to defend out interests using legal ways. We believe that the new political reality in the country provides guarantees for an objective and unbiased solution to this issue," the Patarkatsishvili said in its statement.
Badri Patarkatsishvili died of a heart attack in the United Kingdom in February 2008. His death was followed by litigation between the billionaire's family, the Georgian authorities, and his former partners, including Boris Berezovsky. The Patarkatsishvili family signed an amicable agreement with Berezovsky on the distribution of the debated assets in September 2012.
