Ivanishvili's Moscow representative prohibited to leave Georgia

Valery Levin, an employee of the Moscow office of the Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, was prohibited - by Georgian law enforcement bodies - to leave Georgia. He was detained late on October 22 and released a couple of hours later.

According to Mr Ivanishvili's press secretary, Mr Levin was carrying the documents officially requested by businessman's representatives from the Russian consulate on Ivanishvili's Russian citizenship. Valery Levin was detained right at the airport.

"He was bringing Ivanishvili's ID, the document confirming his Russian citizenship, a certificate from the tax inspectorate and a certificate on his residence - these documents were necessary for the procedure of termination of Bidzina's Russian citizenship," said the press secretary.

After detention at the airport, Levin was taken to the second block of the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), the so-called "module building". He was released at night on October 22 after several hours of interrogation. Georgian law enforcement bodies prohibited Levin from leaving Georgia," said Bidzina Ivanishvili's press secretary.

Shota Utiashvili, the head of the information-analytical department of the Georgian MIA, told reporters that in fact it was not a detention. "It was a check procedure," the "News-Georgia" quotes him as saying.

According to the businessman's press secretary, lawyers could not clarify so far the reason of Levin's detention.

Meanwhile, there is another version of the detention. In particular, lawyer Shalva Tadumadze said referring to the investigation that Levin had brought some radioactive substance to Georgia. In his opinion, this was the reason of detention the Ivanishvili's employee.

According to the source, Levin indeed had some minerals on him, but they were rocks, attached to some children's magazine, which Ivanishvili's daughter was collecting.

The lawyer said that the rocks will be sent to examination to define whether they contain radioactive substances. "The answer will be known in two weeks," said Tadumadze.

The lawyer has stressed that the criminal case was initiated on the fact; and Valery Levin is neither a suspect nor a witness, the "Georgia Online" reports.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 18 the press secretary of the Georgian businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili issued an emergency statement about an attack on the money collector car of the Bank "Kartu", which belongs to the businessman. According to the MIA, a criminal case was initiated under part 3, Article 194, of the Criminal Code of Georgia (large-scale money laundering); and employees of the "Kartu" were released after questioning on the case.

On October 19, it became known that the securities of Ivanishvili's residence, who are on the staff of Georgian police, gave away their service firearms on the demand of the Department of Police of Georgia. At present, only personal bodyguards are with Ivanishvili.

Let us remind you that Ivanishvili, who declared on October 7 his intention to create a new oppositional party in Georgia, which will participate in the 2012 parliamentary elections, last week named the parties, with whom he is ready to cooperate. According to his story, his decision to enter the politics was motivated by "the total monopolization of power by Mikhail Saakashvili and the enforced constitutional changes." Besides, the businessman expressed his intention to buy any Georgian TV Channel, licensed to broadcast news programmes.

On October 11, it became known that Ivanishvili would not be able to run for parliamentary elections in Georgia, since he was no longer a Georgian citizen. The special order of the Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili on deprivation of Ivanishvili of Georgian citizenship will be appealed against in the court, said Eka Beseliya, the businessman's advocate.

At the same time, political scientists of Georgia are rather reserved about the prospects of Ivanishvili's party at the elections.