There are few places in Tbilisi from where you cannot see the steel and glass palace perched on Mount Mtatsminda belonging to Bidzina Ivanishvili. But unlike his imposing property, the richest and most powerful man in Georgia has stayed out of the public eye.
Since serving as prime minister from 2012-13, the oligarch — whose $5bn fortune is equivalent to one-third of his country’s GDP — has largely wielded power from behind the scenes.
Last week, however, he descended from his mountain to deliver a conspiratorial, anti-western speech in which he depicted Georgia as a victim of a “global party of war” and its alleged agents among civil rights groups.