Georgian officials comment on sale of opposition TV channel Rustavi 2

Discussion of Georgian TV channel Rustavi 2 continues after its new owner Kibar Khalvashi announced the sale of TV company.

• New owner of Rustavi 2 announces sale of TV company

One of the questions raised after this announcement was whether the government was going to write off the debts of Rustavi 2 as Khalvashi said the reason he was selling the company was that it faced debts and his financial ability was not enough to “pull the company out of a deep crisis”.

Georgian Finance Minister Ivane Matchavariani said today that “no one appealed to [us] to write off the debts” of Rustavi 2.

We also realise that it will not be easy to pay this amount of debt and it will be required to take certain decisions”, he said.

Georgian Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze also commented on this issue and said that the financial problems of Rustavi 2 are well-known to the public and accordingly “assessments should be made by the society”.

He also said that Khalvashi is backed by his family, relatives, friends and lawyers “who protect his interests” when answering a question as to whether former Prime Minister and the head of the Georgian Dream ruling party Bidzina Ivanishvili stands behind Khalvashi.

Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze was also asked to give a comment about Rustavi 2 case and he said that “Georgia deserves to have professional, objective, ethics and free media which broadcast per western standards”.

He said that one of the achievements of this government is media pluralism.