When a young man walked into a payday lender in Tbilisi and took 19 people hostage on November 20, brandishing what appeared to be a rifle and hand gr

Modern-day “Robin Hood” inspires Georgians drowning in debt | Eurasianet

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2021-06-17 14:00:16

When a young man walked into a payday lender in Tbilisi and took 19 people hostage on November 20, brandishing what appeared to be a rifle and hand grenades, it looked at first glance like a simple robbery.

But the would-be robber, 31-year-old carpenter Levan Zurabashvili, did not ask for money. Instead, he demanded the Georgian government implement several policy changes.

“First off, gambling must be banned all across Georgia,” Zurabashvili said, as the scene played out on live television. “Second: annual interest rates on bank loans must be fixed at no more than 7 percent.”

Some of the hostages interrupted, arguing that 7 percent would still be far too high. “In the European Union the rate is about 3 percent,” one man pointed out.

His third and final demand was to set a 10 percent cap on pharmaceutical companies’ profits as a way to lower drug prices. “It is mainly old people who purchase medication and their pensions are only 250 lari” (about $75), he said, explaining that banks trap senior citizens with expensive loans that they need to cover medical bills but are unable to pay off.

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