Bidzina Ivanishvili

I've never been an oligarch. The definition of an oligarch is someone who has co-operated with the government, and I never did.

I get no pleasure from politics; it's not in my character.

I have always lived according to my conscience, and my past is clean.

I did not like formal meetings, because they took away my freedom. I just liked to spend time with my friends, where I could be myself and did not need to don a mask.

I was writing my Ph.D. in the late 1980s and was keeping an eye on what was happening in the world. It became obvious to me that Russia couldn't live without computers. I think I worked this out a year before anyone else. I started looking for people who could help import them.

In Georgia, people had already understood that communism couldn't survive, and I came to the institute in Moscow, and people still believed in it. They were completely different people, and I found it very difficult psychologically.

I was forced to come into politics because Saakashvili had destroyed the opposition. I had a choice either to leave the country, because it was dangerous to live here, or to go into politics.

There are eight different breeds of peacock. I have them all.

All the therapists would tell me was that I was the only healthy person they knew.

My only hobby is going for walks outdoors.

Since the whole village was poor, we didn't realize our own poverty. I was happy.

I travel as much as I can and meet people.

My main capital isn't the money. I respect myself; I respect my country.

It was not my wish to come into politics. I was not a public person; I preferred to spend my birthdays with family and friends. But the 2008 elections were fraudulent, so I decided to finance the opposition to make them stronger.

I do yoga every day, some sport, have a meal once a day, eat some fruit, and drink one glass of wine. And once a month I gather together my close friends. But my wife and I do not like conspicuous luxury.

America has chosen Georgia as a junior partner. The United States believes that Saakashvili is creating a democratic Georgia, but these are merely facades.

If you come to Georgia, you can open up a company in a day. You yourself can come tomorrow and establish a company in a day, and you're not halted by paperwork.

The economy is governed through cartel agreements and monopoly. The attorney general is the one who's controlling funds. There is no free business in Georgia.

With respect to Euro-Atlantic integration, we have to realize that we need to normalize the relationships with our neighbors, and especially with Russia.

There is a real and evident problem of democracy in Georgia, and this was the core reason of my entrance into politics. We have no rule of law. It's absolutely absent.

Our policy is European and Euro-Atlantic integration. There is no substitute for NATO.

I decided to go into politics because of our Soviet-style government.

I would like to become the prime minister, do the job for two years, and then leave and devote myself to public work.

Any private security is a joke in a country where you're up against your own government.

I may not be a politician, but I will fight to the end of my life for what I believe in.