PM Kvirikashvili encouraged by talks on reforming the Georgian Public Broadcaster

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili is hopeful that the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) will develop into a modern, independent and engaging television network.

Today we are paying millions of GEL for this product (GPB)… and we really want it to be a television provider that serves the public interests”, PM Kvirikashvili said before today’s Government Meeting.

The PM said that he welcomes the "civilised” discussions and public engagement around the GPB - the country’s state-funded television network - for exactly this reason.

New GPB Director General Vasil Maglaperidze has proposed to suspend the broadcast of all GPB TV programs with the exception of news for one year as part of wide-reaching reforms within the organisation.

A month after being elected as the new Director General, Maglaperidze presented his three-year reform plan aimed at developing the GPB and "moving it out of crisis” on February 6.

Established under the Georgian Law on Public Broadcasting, GPB's purpose is "to provide accurate and up-to-date information that is free from political and commercial bias and is shared without any hidden agendas. The programming seeks to address the needs and interests of the larger Georgian society through diversity of programs and viewpoints."

The GPB is allotted about 40 million GEL annually from Georgia’s state budget.

Meeting with the GPB Board of Trustees at the Presidential Palace earlier yesterday, President Giorgi Margvelashvili received detailed information about the developments in the GPB.