Amid suspicions of a possible murder, fingers are pointing in a number of directions. Certain opposition figures such as former Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili have already expressed doubts about official claims of a natural death. Opposition MP Kakha Kukava from the Conservative Party went as far as questioning the reliability of Scotland Yard’s investigation. Some opposition politicians have indirectly accused the Georgian government of being involved in a possible murder. Others hold the Georgian government responsible for causing the stress that led to the millionaire’s death. The opposition has also said that Patarkatsishvili's death evokes parallels to that of former Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania under unclear circumstances.

Patarkatsishvili himself had claimed that the Georgian government was trying to assassinate him. He produced a tape recording of an alleged conversation between a Georgian Interior Ministry official and Chechen warlord Uvais Akhmadov, in which Akhadov was asked to murder the millionaire. Former Defence Minister Irakli Okruashvili, who is wanted in Georgia on corruption charges and is currently seeking political asylum in France, also claimed in a televised interview last September that Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili wanted to get rid of the millionaire.

Patarkatsishvili’s relations with the Saakashvili government had gradually deteriorated in the years following the Rose Revolution. His fall from favour culminated in charges of conspiring to overthrow the government. Georgian authorities released an audiotape in which the millionaire could allegedly be heard offering a bribe to a senior Georgian official to "neutralize" Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili during the January 5 presidential elections.

Although he easily established himself and invested heavily in the lawless environment of Shevardnadze’s Georgia, Patarkatsishvili had not been able to find his place in post-revolutionary Georgia. He threw his financial weight behind the opposition and ran as a candidate in the January 5 elections, but garnered only 7% of the vote.

A “true Georgian patriot”

Reactions to Patarkatsishvili’s death in Georgia are representative of the ambivalent attitude the public held towards the successful Georgian businessman. He had gained some popularity in recent years by financing charity endeavours, sponsoring Georgian sportsmen, restoring cultural monuments, and even paying the salaries of theatre actors. Although not exactly beloved, he had managed to attract sympathy by presenting himself as the victim of a smear campaign launched by the post-revolutionary government.

The fact that the authorities constantly referred to his criminal past and labelled him a traitor after apparently having accepted his financial help immediately after the Rose Revolution was seen by some as a provocative gesture that did not bode well with Georgian codes of ethics. For example, in 2007, Patarkatsishvili was removed from his position as head of the Georgian Olympic Committee, although he had given millions to Georgian sports. In the public's eye, he was sometimes seen as a wise old man who was ready to open his purse for his country. Many felt that the young and arrogant members of the new Georgian political elite dealt with him incorrectly. Despite mistrust concerning his real agenda in Georgia, he was still respected as a “true Georgian patriot”.

Several analysts in Georgia doubts whether Patarkatsishvili's death will benefit the current Georgian authorities. Rumours about government involvement in the millionaire’s death could increase public distrust of the Saakashvili's administration. In this light, certain observers have also asked who the ultimate benefactors of these rumours are. Russian media in particular appear to be advancing the theory that Georgian authorities were involved in the alleged murder.

Mysterious deaths in London

Patarkatsishvili's dubious past as an influential oligarch in 1990's Russia, with connections in Moscow’s criminal world and a close friendship with Kremlin opponent Boris Berezovsky, has also conjured up parallels to the mysterious London death of former Russian security officer Aleksandr Litvinenko in 2006.

Patarkatsishvili made his fortune during Russia's chaotic period of privatisation, in close partnership with Boris Berezovsky. The two men set up the company LogVAZ, which became the official dealer for Russia’s largest car manufacturer AvtoVAZ. They held stakes in the Russian airline Aeroflot and they amassed fortunes through the privatisation of the oil company Sibneft, together with Roman Abramovich, another oligarch in exile in London who continues to enjoy good relations with the Kremlin.

Patarkatsisvhili counted Duma Deputy Andrei Lugovoi among his close friends. Elected on the list of Vladimir Zhirinovsky’s party, Lugovoi is wanted in the United Kingdom on charges of murdering Aleksandr Litvinenko. Formerly the head of security at ORT, the Russian TV station previously owned by Patarkatsishvili and Berezovsky, Lugovoi had reportedly acted as Patarkatsishvili’s “security adviser” in recent times. Patarkatsishvili and Lugovoi were both accused in Russia of masterminding the escape of Nikolai Glushkov, a former top leader at Aeroflot, from custody. Just hours before he died on February 12, Patarkatsishvili was in a business meeting with Berezovsky and Glushkov in London.

Despite a Russian request for his extradition, Patarkatsishvili's relations with Moscow had reportedly improved in recent times. Jamestown Foundation analyst Vladimir Socor recently suggested that mediation by Andrei Lugovoi may have been behind this rapprochement. In this light, certain observers are also tempted to attribute the thaw to the role Patarkatsishvili may have played in destabilising Georgia during the November manifestations. This view also supports those Russian observers who say Russia's secret services had no interest in the Georgian's death.

But observers have advanced several potential motives behind a possible Kremlin conspiracy. Some have cited a possible aim of discrediting the Georgian government by fuelling rumours of its involvement in the millionaire’s death. Others point to a potential desire to eliminate someone with too much information. Georgian newspaper Alia recently began printing the audiotape conversation between Patarkatsishvili and Georgian official Irakli Kodua, which reportedly contains a passage damaging to Russian President Putin’s reputation. Patarkatsishvili reportedly reveals how he helped Putin come to power.

Some rumours point to Boris Berezovsky. Russian news agency Regnum reported that pro-Kremlin Duma Deputy and journalist Alexander Khinshtein, author of a book on Berezovksy and Abramovich, believes Berezovsky had the most interest in his partner’s death. If Patarkatsishvili was truly acting in Russia’s favour in recent years, a split could have formed between the former associates, who were essentially in opposite camps.

Repercussions in Georgia

Badri Patarkatsishvili’s death will have certain repercussions in Georgia, particularly as opposition parties have lost an important source of funding. Despite the opposition’s attempt to publicly distance itself from the Georgian businessman after the government produced evidence of the dubious scenario he had planned ahead of the January 5 elections, opposition leaders frequently visited him in London. Patarkatsishvili’s sudden death could stimulate opposition parties to emerge from his shadow and seek a wider and more solid political base. It remains to be seen whether the millionaire’s death will calm or sharpen relations between Georgia's opposition and the current government.

With his death the somewhat asymmetrical relationship Patarkatsishvili entertained with Georgia has been broken. His financial weight was very much felt in the small republic, where many Georgians eventually felt that his monetary clout was detrimental to the country's attempt to nourish a young democracy and build a viable state. Patarkatsishvili’s immense fortune allowed him to replace the state on many occasions with promises of paying Tbilisi residents' electricity and gas bills for one year if he were elected president. His support of various charity endeavours, including the influential opposition television station Imedi also did not go unnoticed.

His sudden death leaves many questions unanswered, first of all concerning the real nature of his struggle with the Georgian authorities, his relationship to the Kremlin and his real agenda in Georgia. Another question is who stands to inherit his immense fortune. Will his family continue to play the same role as a supporter of the opposition? Will the Georgian state manage to appropriate those of his assets in Georgia which have been frozen by a prosecutors’ request? The Georgian newspaper Akhali Taoba reported via Interfax that Roman Abramovich wants to buy the millionaire’s property in Georgia.

All this speculation provides few clues about the real reasons behind Patarkatsishvili’s death. What they show instead is how politics and business in the former Soviet Union are entangled in a complex web far removed from the average citizen. Some observers fear that more deaths in London may follow. Meanwhile Patarkatsishvili’s many secrets will probably be buried with him for the time being, when his body is repatriated to Georgia.