Zurab Polikashvili won’t likely be ready to answer questions at WTM in London. He seems too involved in shady deals catching up with him, even though authorities have not yet indicted him for any criminal activities.
The likelihood of running UN Tourism for an eyebrow-raising third term is becoming increasingly unlikely, even with high-level friends in some African, Latin, and Central American countries ready to vote for him in return for favors. The geopolitical stakes had been changing, especially in the European Union, which was getting the cold shoulder from Georgia for EU membership, and taking favors became a high-profile public relations issue for others.
It appears another shady deal by the fixer peaked at FITUR Madrid, a leading travel industry event in Spain.
According to Preferente, a Spanish publication, the fixer is Zurab Pololikashvili, the secretary general of UN Tourism (UNWTO).
Together with Aldama, who is currently in prison, Zurab had appointed him earlier as the Honorary Consul for the Republic of Georgia to gain diplomatic immunity.
Zurab Pololikashvili was the Ambassador for Georgia to Spain, Andorra, and Morocco before he won a questionable 2017 election and became the UNWTO secretary general.
According to numerous reports in reputable Spanish-based news publications and eTurboNews, Zurab Polikasvili had little or no experience or interest in tourism when he ran for election as UNWTO Secretary General.
Him winning the vote for this post came with a lot of manipulations. It was political linked to EU—Georgia interests at the time. It opened high-level doors for Zurab to further his real personal business interests.
According to a recent report published in the el Economista in Spain, Aldama and his good friend Zurab coordinated the transport of medical supplies from Moscow to Venezuela.
At the time, Venezuela was under EU sanctions. Unfortunately, the medical supplies turned out to be 104 gold bars shipped on Air Europe from Moscow via Lusaka, Zambia, to Caracas, Venezuela.
The weight of these so-called golden medical supplies camouflaged as “medical supplies” weighed 4000 kilos, according to a document the publication received from the Civil Aviation Authorities of the Republic of Zambia.
The 104 gold bars belonged to Delcy RodrÃguez, the vice president of Venezuela, who also attended the meetings in Madrid to negotiate these deals.
The Gold bars had a value of 62 million Euros. Adding to these reports with Zurabs involvement in making illegal profit generated by COVID mask sales,Victor de Aldama, a close friend of Zurab and the broker of the high profile ‘Koldo plot,’ also mediated with Delcy RodrÃguez, Maduro’s vice president, in the controversial purchase of a shipment of gold that Venezuela made to Russia, via Zambia.
Authorities found evidence of messages, audios, calls and official documents between the two, which are being analyzed by the Central Operative Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard for the investigation of the ‘Koldo case,’ and to which elEconomista.es had access to.
As reported on eTurboNews and many other publications, the high profile Koldo criminal case in Spain led to UNWTO and its Secretary-General.