Ex Rustavi 2 Director General questioned at Tbilisi City Court
Official charges have not yet been brought against former director Nika Gvaramia. Photo: 1TV.
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Dismissed Director General of Georgian private broadcaster Rustavi 2, Nika Gvaramia has been questioned at Tbilisi City Court today.
The questioning lasted more than two hours.
Nika Gvaramia said the questions mainly referred to the advertising contracts [he concluded].
Yesterday, the Prosecutor’s Office announced it planned to question ex-director of opposition minded TV channel Rustavi 2 for alleged abuse of power during his term.
Official charges have not yet been brought against Nika Gvaramia, but he was still asked to provide explanations of certain financial transactions which a former shareholder says were meant to bankrupt Rustavi 2.
A complaint lodged by former nine per cent shareholder Nino Nizharadze alleged that Rustavi 2 and Intermedia signed a deal, by means of which Nika Gvaramia intended to accumulate Rustavi 2’s assets to open a new channel, as he knew that the European Court of Human Rights would effectively allow the return of 100 per cent of shares to Khalvashi.
An ECHR ruling on July 18 effectively allowed the return of 100 per cent of the channel’s shares to its former owner Kibar Khalvashi, who argued that Rustavi 2 was illegally seized from him by the former United National Movement (UNM) government in 2006.
Later, he appointed his lawyer Paata Salia as the channel’s director – Salia in turn has said that Rustavi 2 is facing financial issues.
Read a very controversial history of the ownership of Rustavi 2:
- Established in 1994, the broadcasting company changed ownership numerous times between 2004 and 2012.
- In March 2017 Georgia’s Supreme Court delivered a verdict in favor of Its former shareholder [2004-2006) Kibar Khalvashi, who had filed a lawsuit in 2015.
- A few days later the European Court of Human Rights suspended the enforcement of the Georgian Supreme Court’s verdict.
- Currently, Rustavi 2 is owned by LTD TV Sakartvelo (51%) and businessmen brothers Levan (22%) and Giorgi (18%) Karamanishvili.
- For its part the brothers own 25-25 per cent of LTD Sakartvelo. The remaining 50 per cent of the LTD is owned by a son of the United National Movement Executive Secretary Koba Nakopia, Nikoloz Nakopia.
- The remaining nine per cent of the channel belongs to Nizharadze, who inherited the shares from her husband.
Paata Salia, who replaced Nika Gvaramia as the director general of Rustav 2, went to the TV company and spoke with the team late on July 18 to set further goals. Salia told the journalists that he does not intend to interfere in the editorial policy and the team may continue working as they did before the verdict of the European Court of Human Rights.
The Georgian Public Registry Agency has registered the shares of Rustavi 2 in the name of its former owner Kibar Khalvashi after today’s verdict of the European Court of Human Rights. Khalvashi’s lawyer addressed the agency to introduce changes in the Rustavi 2 registration document as the ECHR upheld the verdicts of the Georgians courts and allowed the return of 100 percent of shares of the channel to Khalvashi.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has released its verdict on the Rustavi 2 private broadcaster’s ownership dispute earlier today, upholding the verdicts of Georgian courts on the case.Rustavi 2 and its current owners earlier filed with the ECHR as plaintiffs, claiming that the Georgian Court of Appeals and Supreme Court had delivered unfair verdicts.
Nino Nizharadze, a nine per cent shareholder of the opposition-minded Rustavi 2 channel, has addressed the Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office to launch an investigation against the channel director, former Minister of Justice Nika Gvaramia.
The former Director General of opposition-minded TV channel Rustavi 2, Nika Gvaramia, has been charged with abuse of power. The Georgian Prosecutor’s Office announced yesterday that due to Gvaramia’s actions Rustavi 2 suffered losses of 6,763,510 GEL (about $2,308,365/€2,062,045).
The new owner of Rustavi 2 Kiber Khalvashi, who was given 100 per cent of the company’s shares on July 18, is selling the broadcasting company, reports Rustavi 2.
Discussion of Georgian TV channel Rustavi 2 continues after its new owner Kibar Khalvashi announced the sale of TV company.
Georgian Finance Minister Ivane Matchavariani has called on leading Georgian TV companies with high tax debt to present plans to restructure their accumulated debt within about two weeks.