George Kikvadze, the managing director of Ukrainian agribusiness Terra Food who has lived in Ukraine for the past five years, announced on his Facebook page that he will move his Ukraine-born son and wife back to Georgia after not being let in to the country on Dec. 21.
“Believing that nothing happens for any reason, I also
realized this was a clear signal from above to move my family back to my
country and help Georgia in attracting much needed investments and capital,” Kikvadze wrote on Facebook. “This
is what I intend to do.”
He is
resigning from Terra Food and will become the managing director of GCF Private
Equity Fund, a newly created private vehicle with access to $6 billion for
drawing investments into Georgia.
After
spending the night at Boryspil airport, Kikvadze flew back to Tbilisi, Georgia’s
capital, late on Dec. 22. The American-educated Georgian has permanent
residency status in Ukraine.
According to Kikvadze, he
was told by border guards at the airport that the State Security Service, or
the SBU, had refused him entry.
On Dec. 8 Party of Regions
lawmaker Oleh Tsaryov reportedly sent a list of 36 foreigners to the SBU and
foreign ministry, the majority of which included Georgians, as part of an official inquiry
asking the government bodies to not let them enter the country.
Kikvadze’s name is listed 32nd on the list of 36
foreigners. Also on
the list is Georgian citizen Lasha Mikava, the chairman of Ukrtelecom, the nation’s
largest fixed-line telephone operator that belongs to billionaire Rinat
Akhmetov.
The inquiry accuses
foreigners on the list of being “national security threats.”
The SBU on Dec. 25
confirmed that in November-December it took decisions not to let in certain
foreign individuals to Ukraine “for national security reasons,” emphasizing
that the measures were not based on any specific list, but on a case-by-case analysis.
“I am appalled (at not
being let in),” Kikvadze told the Kyiv Post on Dec. 21. “I’ve worked here for
the past five years bringing in investments…my son is a Ukrainian citizen, I’ve
permanent residency status.”
Asked whether there could
be legal grounds for not allowing him to enter Ukraine, Kikvadze said: “There was no reason given other than my great sympathy for
the Ukrainian people in demonstrating for a better future and in freeing the
country from the rampant corruption that is destroying the very fabric of
society.”
On Dec. 20 Ukrainian
authorities deported Davit Kakulia from Ukraine, a Georgian journalist from
Georgia’s Rustavi 2 television station, according to Radio Free Europe Radio
Liberty.
Prior to joining Terra
Foods in March, Kikvadze worked as chief investment officer at Ukrlandfarming
PLC, which belongs to billionaire Oleh Bakhmatiuk, the nation’s largest egg
producer. Prior to that, Kikvadze was chief executive officer of York Capital
Management CIS operations, a leading global alternative assets manager.
Kyiv Post editor Mark
Rachkevych can be either reached at [email protected] or [email protected].
