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Eric Trump Inks Georgia Mega-Tower Deal With Firms Allegedly Tied to Sanctioned Pro-Putin Billionaire
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US President Donald Trump’s sons are moving forward with a new Trump Tower project in the country of Georgia, partnering with a developer allegedly linked to a sanctioned pro-Kremlin billionaire and another whose late founder faced an FBI probe over alleged ties to Russian gangsters, The Daily Beast reported on May 14.
According to the investiagtion, the Trump Organization plans to construct a luxury 70-story apartment complex in the capital city of Tbilisi, expanding the first family’s $2.7 billion property empire. The Daily Beast reports that one of the key partners on the project is the Tbilisi-based Archi Group, a firm with direct political and financial ties to Bidzina Ivanishvili.
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Ivanishvili, the founder of Georgia’s ruling party, was placed on the US sanctions list in 2024 following brutal crackdowns on pro-Western protesters and attempts to drag the former Soviet republic closer to Moscow amid Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine.
Archi Group’s founder, Ilia Tsulaia, previously served as a member of parliament for Ivanishvili’s party, The Daily Beast noted. Tsulaia was allegedly included on a list of prospective sanctions targets submitted by US lawmakers to then-incoming Secretary of State Marco Rubio in January 2025, citing his role as an alleged financier of the Ivanishvili regime.
I am so excited to share the official rendering of Trump Tower Tbilisi.
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) May 11, 2026
With a prime location, in the heart of Tbilisi, this tower will quickly become a landmark as the tallest building in Georgia. This marks our first project in the region and we are so excited to bring it to… pic.twitter.com/VFNuDxJnxB
A second partner involved in the Tbilisi plans is the New York-based Sapir Organization, founded by the late Tamir Sapir. According to The Daily Beast, Sapir was a long-time Trump associate who emigrated from the Soviet Union in the 1970s. Declassified FBI documents revealed that Sapir was the subject of a 1998 money-laundering and extortion probe, with the bureau suspecting he was acting “as a front for Russian organized crime money.” Sapir vehemently denied any mob ties and was never charged.
Eric Trump publicly confirmed the Georgian development on social media, posting an architectural rendering of the 70-story complex. “We are proud to bring this globally recognized standard of excellence to Georgia and are especially pleased to collaborate with such respected and professional developers on this project,” Trump said in an accompanying press release, according to The Daily Beast.
The Trump Organization’s expansion into Tbilisi coincides with intensifying Western scrutiny over Georgia’s deepening economic ties to Moscow. The European Union had previously proposed expanding its sanctions regime to include the Georgian port of Kulevi for allegedly handling Russian oil shipments, marking the first time the bloc targeted port facilities in third countries.
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