Terje Helland
@terjehelland.bsky.social
Geopolitics. Generous with compliments. Dedicated to helping others. Consultant. Communication. Rhetoric. Politics. Media.
https://buymeacoffee.com/terjehelland
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/TerjeHelland
ENcouncil.org
https://buymeacoffee.com/terjehelland
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/TerjeHelland
ENcouncil.org
☕️ If you value my threads, please consider supporting my work at buymeacoffee.com/terjehelland.
Your support helps me continue informing and engaging on Georgia’s fight for democracy.
Thank you!
Your support helps me continue informing and engaging on Georgia’s fight for democracy.
Thank you!
Terje Helland
Online activist and fella. Working to inform and engage. Ukraine. Georgia. US. I support the underdog. Always.
buymeacoffee.com
October 27, 2025 at 7:12 AM
☕️ If you value my threads, please consider supporting my work at buymeacoffee.com/terjehelland.
Your support helps me continue informing and engaging on Georgia’s fight for democracy.
Thank you!
Your support helps me continue informing and engaging on Georgia’s fight for democracy.
Thank you!
To support struggling free media in Georgia, you can donate via this GoFundMe Campaign.
www.gofundme.com/f/help-media...
www.gofundme.com/f/help-media...
Donate to Help Georgia’s media survive an authoritarian crackdown, organized by Dominik Cagara
UPDATE (22 August 2025)
Journalism in Georgia is still unde… Dominik Cagara needs your support for Help Georgia’s media survive an authoritarian crackdown
www.gofundme.com
October 27, 2025 at 7:12 AM
To support struggling free media in Georgia, you can donate via this GoFundMe Campaign.
www.gofundme.com/f/help-media...
www.gofundme.com/f/help-media...
If you want to help political prisoners in Georgia, consider donating to the crowdsourcing initiative - Freedom Fund. tavisuplebispondi.com
Login - Liquid Glass UI
Elegant login page with Apple-inspired liquid glass effect
tavisuplebispondi.com
October 27, 2025 at 7:12 AM
If you want to help political prisoners in Georgia, consider donating to the crowdsourcing initiative - Freedom Fund. tavisuplebispondi.com
It’s not a democracy in crisis - it’s a Russian-aligned kleptocracy in consolidation.
The West must see it for what it is, before Georgia is lost entirely.
18/18
The West must see it for what it is, before Georgia is lost entirely.
18/18
October 27, 2025 at 7:12 AM
It’s not a democracy in crisis - it’s a Russian-aligned kleptocracy in consolidation.
The West must see it for what it is, before Georgia is lost entirely.
18/18
The West must see it for what it is, before Georgia is lost entirely.
18/18
Georgia’s people-80% pro-EU-are being held hostage by a ruling elite that’s running out of money and time.
Their fight is no longer just for democracy.
It’s against a regime monetizing repression to keep Moscow happy and itself afloat.
17/18
Their fight is no longer just for democracy.
It’s against a regime monetizing repression to keep Moscow happy and itself afloat.
17/18
October 27, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Georgia’s people-80% pro-EU-are being held hostage by a ruling elite that’s running out of money and time.
Their fight is no longer just for democracy.
It’s against a regime monetizing repression to keep Moscow happy and itself afloat.
17/18
Their fight is no longer just for democracy.
It’s against a regime monetizing repression to keep Moscow happy and itself afloat.
17/18
Western leaders must stop treating GD as a confused democracy.
It is a mafia-state hybrid: an oligarchic system now financing itself through repression and Russian-aligned trade.
Every “anti-corruption” headline from Tbilisi is really a cash-collection drive.
16/18
It is a mafia-state hybrid: an oligarchic system now financing itself through repression and Russian-aligned trade.
Every “anti-corruption” headline from Tbilisi is really a cash-collection drive.
16/18
October 27, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Western leaders must stop treating GD as a confused democracy.
It is a mafia-state hybrid: an oligarchic system now financing itself through repression and Russian-aligned trade.
Every “anti-corruption” headline from Tbilisi is really a cash-collection drive.
16/18
It is a mafia-state hybrid: an oligarchic system now financing itself through repression and Russian-aligned trade.
Every “anti-corruption” headline from Tbilisi is really a cash-collection drive.
16/18
The crackdown on civil society, media, and pro-EU voices isn’t ideological.
It’s financial.
Every NGO closed, every TV station fined, every protest crushed removes a potential watchdog that could expose the money trail.
15/18
It’s financial.
Every NGO closed, every TV station fined, every protest crushed removes a potential watchdog that could expose the money trail.
15/18
October 27, 2025 at 7:12 AM
The crackdown on civil society, media, and pro-EU voices isn’t ideological.
It’s financial.
Every NGO closed, every TV station fined, every protest crushed removes a potential watchdog that could expose the money trail.
15/18
It’s financial.
Every NGO closed, every TV station fined, every protest crushed removes a potential watchdog that could expose the money trail.
15/18
The irony?
While pretending to resist Western “interference,” GD is integrating Georgia’s economy into Russia’s sphere-exactly the dependency the Putin wanted.
Russia doesn’t need tanks in Tbilisi when it controls the cash flow.
14/18
While pretending to resist Western “interference,” GD is integrating Georgia’s economy into Russia’s sphere-exactly the dependency the Putin wanted.
Russia doesn’t need tanks in Tbilisi when it controls the cash flow.
14/18
October 27, 2025 at 7:12 AM
The irony?
While pretending to resist Western “interference,” GD is integrating Georgia’s economy into Russia’s sphere-exactly the dependency the Putin wanted.
Russia doesn’t need tanks in Tbilisi when it controls the cash flow.
14/18
While pretending to resist Western “interference,” GD is integrating Georgia’s economy into Russia’s sphere-exactly the dependency the Putin wanted.
Russia doesn’t need tanks in Tbilisi when it controls the cash flow.
14/18
At the same time, GD has tightened ties with Russia economically.
Trade with Russia hit record highs.
Wine, cars, wheat, and energy now depend on the Russian market.
That dependency gives Putin leverage over Tbilisi-and Ivanishvili personally.
13/18
Trade with Russia hit record highs.
Wine, cars, wheat, and energy now depend on the Russian market.
That dependency gives Putin leverage over Tbilisi-and Ivanishvili personally.
13/18
October 27, 2025 at 7:12 AM
At the same time, GD has tightened ties with Russia economically.
Trade with Russia hit record highs.
Wine, cars, wheat, and energy now depend on the Russian market.
That dependency gives Putin leverage over Tbilisi-and Ivanishvili personally.
13/18
Trade with Russia hit record highs.
Wine, cars, wheat, and energy now depend on the Russian market.
That dependency gives Putin leverage over Tbilisi-and Ivanishvili personally.
13/18
The deeper motive is survival.
GD’s patronage system-the web of loyal MPs, judges, police, and media owners-runs on payouts.
Without Ivanishvili’s offshore billions or Western funds, they now sustain it through confiscation and coercion.
Georgian Dream is desperate for cash.
12/
GD’s patronage system-the web of loyal MPs, judges, police, and media owners-runs on payouts.
Without Ivanishvili’s offshore billions or Western funds, they now sustain it through confiscation and coercion.
Georgian Dream is desperate for cash.
12/
October 27, 2025 at 7:12 AM
The deeper motive is survival.
GD’s patronage system-the web of loyal MPs, judges, police, and media owners-runs on payouts.
Without Ivanishvili’s offshore billions or Western funds, they now sustain it through confiscation and coercion.
Georgian Dream is desperate for cash.
12/
GD’s patronage system-the web of loyal MPs, judges, police, and media owners-runs on payouts.
Without Ivanishvili’s offshore billions or Western funds, they now sustain it through confiscation and coercion.
Georgian Dream is desperate for cash.
12/
Others weren’t so lucky.
Associates of security chief Liluashvili and ex-Prosecutor Partskhaladze were arrested, and millions more seized.
One had 94 envelopes of cash-another hid nearly $3 million in bank safes.
This is a financial cleansing, not a moral one.
11/18
Associates of security chief Liluashvili and ex-Prosecutor Partskhaladze were arrested, and millions more seized.
One had 94 envelopes of cash-another hid nearly $3 million in bank safes.
This is a financial cleansing, not a moral one.
11/18
October 27, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Others weren’t so lucky.
Associates of security chief Liluashvili and ex-Prosecutor Partskhaladze were arrested, and millions more seized.
One had 94 envelopes of cash-another hid nearly $3 million in bank safes.
This is a financial cleansing, not a moral one.
11/18
Associates of security chief Liluashvili and ex-Prosecutor Partskhaladze were arrested, and millions more seized.
One had 94 envelopes of cash-another hid nearly $3 million in bank safes.
This is a financial cleansing, not a moral one.
11/18
Former PM Garibashvili’s $6.5 million stash wasn’t the state’s discovery-it was a forced return of withheld tribute.
He “admitted guilt,” paid a million-lari bail, and was released.
A political transaction disguised as law enforcement.
10/18
He “admitted guilt,” paid a million-lari bail, and was released.
A political transaction disguised as law enforcement.
10/18
October 27, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Former PM Garibashvili’s $6.5 million stash wasn’t the state’s discovery-it was a forced return of withheld tribute.
He “admitted guilt,” paid a million-lari bail, and was released.
A political transaction disguised as law enforcement.
10/18
He “admitted guilt,” paid a million-lari bail, and was released.
A political transaction disguised as law enforcement.
10/18
Every confiscation has two purposes:
- eliminate a rival power base;
- repatriate liquidity back to the center.
Experts like Nika Chitadze describe it bluntly: a fight between clans around Ivanishvili for who pays into the “offshore common pot.”
9/18
frontnews.ge/en/news/nika...
- eliminate a rival power base;
- repatriate liquidity back to the center.
Experts like Nika Chitadze describe it bluntly: a fight between clans around Ivanishvili for who pays into the “offshore common pot.”
9/18
frontnews.ge/en/news/nika...
Expert Chitadze: ruling party’s moves reflect internal power
The large-scale investigative processes launched within the ruling elite are reshaping Georgia’s political agenda. The decision to release former Prime Minister
frontnews.ge
October 27, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Every confiscation has two purposes:
- eliminate a rival power base;
- repatriate liquidity back to the center.
Experts like Nika Chitadze describe it bluntly: a fight between clans around Ivanishvili for who pays into the “offshore common pot.”
9/18
frontnews.ge/en/news/nika...
- eliminate a rival power base;
- repatriate liquidity back to the center.
Experts like Nika Chitadze describe it bluntly: a fight between clans around Ivanishvili for who pays into the “offshore common pot.”
9/18
frontnews.ge/en/news/nika...
The “anti-corruption campaign” launched this month is not about justice.
It’s a clan purge.
Over $10 million in cash, gold, and jewelry was seized from ex-officials like Garibashvili, Liluashvili, and Partskhaladze-each once part of Ivanishvili’s circle.
8/18
It’s a clan purge.
Over $10 million in cash, gold, and jewelry was seized from ex-officials like Garibashvili, Liluashvili, and Partskhaladze-each once part of Ivanishvili’s circle.
8/18
October 27, 2025 at 7:12 AM
The “anti-corruption campaign” launched this month is not about justice.
It’s a clan purge.
Over $10 million in cash, gold, and jewelry was seized from ex-officials like Garibashvili, Liluashvili, and Partskhaladze-each once part of Ivanishvili’s circle.
8/18
It’s a clan purge.
Over $10 million in cash, gold, and jewelry was seized from ex-officials like Garibashvili, Liluashvili, and Partskhaladze-each once part of Ivanishvili’s circle.
8/18
So, Georgian Dream turned inward.
If Russia can’t fully bankroll them, they’ll squeeze their own country instead.
Opposition figures, NGOs, and even former ministers are now targets in a giant internal cash-recovery operation.
7/18
If Russia can’t fully bankroll them, they’ll squeeze their own country instead.
Opposition figures, NGOs, and even former ministers are now targets in a giant internal cash-recovery operation.
7/18
October 27, 2025 at 7:12 AM
So, Georgian Dream turned inward.
If Russia can’t fully bankroll them, they’ll squeeze their own country instead.
Opposition figures, NGOs, and even former ministers are now targets in a giant internal cash-recovery operation.
7/18
If Russia can’t fully bankroll them, they’ll squeeze their own country instead.
Opposition figures, NGOs, and even former ministers are now targets in a giant internal cash-recovery operation.
7/18
But Moscow’s patience isn’t infinite.
As the war dragged on and Russia’s coffers thinned, Kremlin pressure on Tbilisi grew: deliver more trade, more loyalty, maybe even cash.
The result? A regime that fears both bankruptcy and Moscow’s wrath.
6/18
As the war dragged on and Russia’s coffers thinned, Kremlin pressure on Tbilisi grew: deliver more trade, more loyalty, maybe even cash.
The result? A regime that fears both bankruptcy and Moscow’s wrath.
6/18
October 27, 2025 at 7:12 AM
But Moscow’s patience isn’t infinite.
As the war dragged on and Russia’s coffers thinned, Kremlin pressure on Tbilisi grew: deliver more trade, more loyalty, maybe even cash.
The result? A regime that fears both bankruptcy and Moscow’s wrath.
6/18
As the war dragged on and Russia’s coffers thinned, Kremlin pressure on Tbilisi grew: deliver more trade, more loyalty, maybe even cash.
The result? A regime that fears both bankruptcy and Moscow’s wrath.
6/18
While the West saw “neutrality,” GD saw profit.
Each sanctioned item that crossed Georgian borders generated commissions, bribes, and kickbacks for the elite.
It became an industry of evasion-state-sponsored and protected.
5/18
Each sanctioned item that crossed Georgian borders generated commissions, bribes, and kickbacks for the elite.
It became an industry of evasion-state-sponsored and protected.
5/18
October 27, 2025 at 7:12 AM
While the West saw “neutrality,” GD saw profit.
Each sanctioned item that crossed Georgian borders generated commissions, bribes, and kickbacks for the elite.
It became an industry of evasion-state-sponsored and protected.
5/18
Each sanctioned item that crossed Georgian borders generated commissions, bribes, and kickbacks for the elite.
It became an industry of evasion-state-sponsored and protected.
5/18
From 2022–2024, exports of “dual-use” goods-electronics, chips, and drones-through Georgia exploded.
Investigations (iFact, OCCRP) showed Georgian intermediaries routing banned components to Russia via Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.
Georgia became Moscow’s grey-zone hub.
4/
Investigations (iFact, OCCRP) showed Georgian intermediaries routing banned components to Russia via Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.
Georgia became Moscow’s grey-zone hub.
4/
October 27, 2025 at 7:12 AM
From 2022–2024, exports of “dual-use” goods-electronics, chips, and drones-through Georgia exploded.
Investigations (iFact, OCCRP) showed Georgian intermediaries routing banned components to Russia via Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.
Georgia became Moscow’s grey-zone hub.
4/
Investigations (iFact, OCCRP) showed Georgian intermediaries routing banned components to Russia via Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.
Georgia became Moscow’s grey-zone hub.
4/
GD’s entire system depends on money flows once controlled by oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, who made billions in Russia.
But since 2022, sanctions, asset freezes, and the loss of Western aid have cut the lifelines.
The regime is scrambling to fund itself-and its loyalty network.
2
But since 2022, sanctions, asset freezes, and the loss of Western aid have cut the lifelines.
The regime is scrambling to fund itself-and its loyalty network.
2
October 27, 2025 at 7:12 AM
GD’s entire system depends on money flows once controlled by oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, who made billions in Russia.
But since 2022, sanctions, asset freezes, and the loss of Western aid have cut the lifelines.
The regime is scrambling to fund itself-and its loyalty network.
2
But since 2022, sanctions, asset freezes, and the loss of Western aid have cut the lifelines.
The regime is scrambling to fund itself-and its loyalty network.
2
I promise to stand with Georgia also in the year ahead, to support its freedom-loving people and their rightful place in Europe.
October 26, 2025 at 4:17 PM
I promise to stand with Georgia also in the year ahead, to support its freedom-loving people and their rightful place in Europe.
