Biden sanctioned man who owns Georgia, made sure checks still cleared

On Dec. 27, 2024, the Biden administration’s Treasury Department did two things, and only one of them made the news.First, it sanctioned Bidzina Ivanishvili under Executive Order 14024 — the sanctions architecture built for the Russian Federation. In the U.S. government’s own assessment, Ivanishvili acted on behalf of — and for the benefit of — the Russian Federation while shaping Georgia’s political direction. Translate that from bureaucratese: my country’s de facto ruler works for Moscow.Second, the Treasury issued General License 116. The license authorizes U.S. persons to continue most transactions with companies that Ivanishvili owns or controls, as long as those companies are not on the sanctions list. In practice, the individual is frozen; the corporate network around him remains largely open for American business.

EMZARI GELASHVILI: GEORGIA IS DEMOLISHING ITS WESTERN FUTURE — ONE LANDMARK AT A TIMEThe man was sanctioned. The empire was licensed.That single day captures the entire Western approach to Georgia since the Soviet collapse: symbolic clarity followed by practical accommodation. We name the problem. Then we make sure the problem can still cash the checks.The pattern is not new