Georgia's shark-owning billionaire tells voters: Don't risk war with Russia

FILE PHOTO: Bidzina Ivanishvili, former prime minister and founder of the Georgian Dream party, waves during a pro-government rally in support of a bill on "foreign agents" in Tbilisi, Georgia April 29, 2024. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze/File Photo

TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgia's saviour. Russia's stooge. Philanthropist. Oligarch. Bidzina Ivanishvili has been called all these things, and more.

The billionaire, Georgia's richest person and the founder of its ruling party, is seldom seen in public and, of late, almost exclusively behind bulletproof glass. Yet his presence looms large over this small European country caught been Russia and the West and an election that could shape its destiny.