Investigations link a named local partner on the proposed 70‑story Trump Tower Tbilisi to Paata Gamgoneishvili, a Georgian‑born businessman who built wealth in Russia with Roland Isaev. Biograpi Living was listed in the Trumps’ announcement and briefly promoted the project but later denied any legal role. Corporate records connect Gamgoneishvili to Riverside and Tall Trade Ltd. (BVI), and reporting highlights past allegations involving Lukoil’s Bulgarian unit, large bank holdings at Sberbank, and a legal dispute tied to online‑gambling software firm SoftSwiss.
Investigations Tie Trump Tower Tbilisi Partner To Oligarch With Russian Business Links
Eric Faison/The Daily Beast
Investigative reporting has raised questions about a Georgian partner named in plans for a 70‑story Trump Tower in Tbilisi, linking the development to Paata Gamgoneishvili, a Georgian-born businessman who built much of his wealth in Russia alongside investor Roland Isaev.
Trump Tower Tbilisi promises to be the tallest building in the city's skyline. / X/Eric Trump
Project Overview
Trump Tower Tbilisi is proposed as a 70‑story luxury residential tower in Georgia’s capital and joins the Trump family’s broader $2.7 billion property portfolio. Eric Trump posted an AI rendering of the tower on X in May, calling it “our first project in the region” and saying the family was “so excited to bring it to life.”
Eric and Donald Trump Jr. have trumpeted their partners on the project but not the interests behind those companies. / Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Allegations and Reporting
Reporting by the Daily Beast’s sister Substack PunchUp and The Newsground, supported by additional local and regional outlets, identifies Biograpi Living—a company the Trump Organization named as a local partner—as co‑owned by Paata Gamgoneishvili. Those reports say Gamgoneishvili amassed significant assets in Russia with long‑time partner Roland Isaev.
Trump has long faced scrutiny for his Russia ties. / MAXIM ZMEYEV / REUTERS
Biograpi later told reporters it is not a legal participant in the Trump Tower project and denied any involvement by Gamgoneishvili. The company did briefly share the Trump Organization’s announcement on social channels and posted that the tower would be built “with our joint efforts,” an action Biograpi now says was for marketing and not legally binding. Corporate records cited by investigators show Riverside, a firm Gamgoneishvili controls, listed as a creditor of Idea LLC—the company Biograpi says is undertaking the development—though the filings do not disclose amounts.
Biograpi denies its involvement in the project it’s promoting on social media. / Instagram/Biograpi
Past Business Links And Investigations
Public reporting and leaked records outline Gamgoneishvili’s rise from a Moscow trader during the Soviet collapse to a shopping‑mall owner; two Moscow malls linked to him and Isaev reportedly sold for about $230 million in 2006. Forbes Russia and other outlets trace his early political ties to 1993, when he supported Boris Yeltsin through a veterans’ union that later acquired import privileges.
Gamgoneishvili made his fortune in Moscow. / The Newsground
Investigative outlet Bivol has tied Gamgoneishvili and Isaev to a network accused of siphoning tens of millions from Lukoil’s Bulgarian unit. Czech and Bulgarian reporting also described their involvement in a 2018 bid for portions of Bulgaria’s power grid and disclosed sizeable bank holdings: roughly $123 million at Sberbank and about $80 million at private Swiss banks. Leaked Russian banking records suggest Gamgoneishvili earned interest on a Sberbank account as recently as February 2025, and records show Isaev earning interest at Alfa Bank.
Offshore Structure And SoftSwiss Dispute
Riverside is controlled by Tall Trade Ltd., a company registered in the British Virgin Islands. Studio Monitori and other outlets first traced these entities to Gamgoneishvili in June. Tall Trade appears in litigation in the British Virgin Islands connected to SoftSwiss—the software platform for online casinos—after control of SoftSwiss’s parent company shifted following a default on a $19 million loan in 2022. SoftSwiss has faced regulatory fines and scrutiny in several jurisdictions, and its parent company was sold in November 2022 to an anonymous Cypriot shell for $71.4 million.
Local Political Connections
The Tbilisi project’s local partners have also drawn scrutiny. The Daily Beast reported that Archi Group, a Trump local partner, has ties to Bidzina Ivanishvili, the Georgian billionaire sanctioned by the U.S. in 2024 for links to the Kremlin. The Newsground reported that owners of other partner firms—Finvest Georgia and the Blox Group—have donated significant sums to Ivanishvili’s political party.
Responses And Current Status
PunchUp and The Newsground contacted the White House; spokeswoman Anna Kelly said the matter “has nothing to do with the president, whose investment holdings are held in fully discretionary accounts managed by independent third‑party financial institutions.” The Trump Organization, the Sapir Organization, Riverside, Gamgoneishvili, Isaev and SoftSwiss did not respond in time for publication. Eric Trump described the Trumps as “especially pleased to collaborate with such respected and professional developers on this project.”
Note: This article summarizes investigative reporting and public records. Some claims are based on ongoing reporting, leaked documents, and legal filings; the involved parties have disputed or not responded to some allegations.
Reporting compiled from PunchUp, The Newsground, The Daily Beast, Bivol, Forbes Russia, Studio Monitori and other regional sources.
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