Somkhishvili, who is suing the KSCA,is a member of pro-Russian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili's inner circle, say Kulyk

Russian crime boss Tamaz Somkhishvili, who is trying to sue the Kyiv City State Administration for $100 million for the unfinished reconstruction of Kharkiv Square, is related to Sulkhan Papashvili, the former head of the Georgian State Security and pro-Russian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, whose family members have been under Ukrainian sanctions since October 2022.

This was stated by Vitalii Kulyk, political scientist and Director of the Center for Civil Society Studies, in a blog post on the Censor.NET website.

"This story is a about how the budget of the Ukrainian capital can lose UAH 4 billion due to a lawsuit filed by an inconspicuous company called Kyiv Terminal, which planned to reconstruct Kharkiv Square in 2007. However, the company failed, and no work was done on Kharkiv Square. Fifteen years later, the owners of Kyiv Terminal remembered the lost opportunity and went to court to ‘compensate’ themselves for the allegedly lost profits. It is not an ordinary unsuccessful developer who wants to receive this money from the capital of Ukraine, but a Russian oilman who is now involved in repairing and maintaining Russian combat aircraft," points out the political scientist.

He states that the owner of the little-known company is a Russian-Georgian thief-in-law, Tamaz Somkhishvili. 

"In fact, he was actually a co-founder of Lukoil at that time, along with Vagit Alekperov, current oil tycoon, and Leonid Fedun, lecturer at the Dzerzhinsky Military Academy. Later, Somkhishvili even ran joint ventures between Lukoil and Rosneft, a state-owned Russian company run by Igor Sechin, one of the closest friends of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Later, Somkhishvili apparently began to gradually move away from the oil ‘theme’ and tried to create an image of a British investor and Georgian philanthropist," continues the blog’s author.

Vitalii Kulik points out Tamaz Somkhishvili's ties to Georgia's richest man.

"He is beginning to reveal ties to the business empire of pro-Russian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, the de facto leader of the current Georgian government that is loyal to Russia. In particular, in the company registered by Somkhishvili in the UK, the director was Sulkhan Papashvili, Ivanishvili's partner and former Head of the Georgian State Security. Ukraine even proposed to impose sanctions against Papashvili and Ivanishvili himself, in particular for lobbying the interests of Russian oligarchs and helping to circumvent international sanctions for the war against Ukraine," explains the director of the Center for Civil Society Studies.

The author of the blog also cites other arguments in favor of Somkhishvili’s ties to Russia, namely a Russian passport and a migration certificate confirming his residence in Moscow.

"One of the other non-public areas of Tamaz Somkhishvili’s activity is aircraft equipment. It turns out that this businessman actually controls the Tbilisi Aviation Plant and is indirectly involved in companies that maintain and repair Russian Su attack aircraft. In particular, the Tbilisi Aircraft Plant is controlled by TAM Management, whose board includes Giorgi Somkhishvili, most likely a relative of Tamaz Somkhishvili. At least, the Georgian media call him a relative of the businessman. The same aircraft plant is a co-founder of the Russian LLC NPK "Shturmoviki Sukhogo" (Sukhoi Attack Aircraft), which receives government orders to repair aircraft that have been bombing Ukraine for almost a year," summarizes Vitalii Kulyk.

To request a correction, please send an email.