Billionaire-turned-politician, Bidzina Ivanishvili, said in his interview with Reuters last week, that despite the fact that twenty percent of Georgia’s territory “is occupied” by Russia, Tbilisi will have to mend relations with Moscow with the help of the U.S. and EU.

Reuters released a new portion of its interview with Ivanishvili, recorded last week, on October 18. 

“Although Saakashvili’s reckless actions were responded with even bigger recklessness by Russia, which carried out a terrible aggression during the August events and actually 20% of Georgia’s territory is today occupied, we will have to sort out [relations] with Russia – we won’t be able to avoid it – and I hope that the U.S. and Europe will take an appropriate position,” Ivanishvili said.

He also said that Georgia “should manage to find its own place in global politics” and for that purpose, he said, he had already started to work with a group of Georgian experts.

“We are working on security issues as well as on forming a general strategy of development for Georgia. And together with them [expert groups] I will be able to find an optimal way for Georgia's development in global politics, internal policies and economic development,” Ivanishvili said.

He said there “are many professionals” working in the government ministries, including on mid-level positions and although some reorganizations might take place he was not going “to crash and destroy” the ministry after coming into power. Ivanishvili says that there “is a probability of minimum 90% that we will enter parliament with an absolute majority.”

“Of course the absolute majority of them [employees of state structures] will keep their positions and jobs. I am not going to crash and destroy the ministries. Some reorganization will take place but I think the absolute majority will keep their positions,” Ivanishvili said.