Court freezes 60% of Rustavi 2 TV shares after founders file lawsuit against owner
Rustavi 2 private broadcaster was founded in 1994 and has changed ownership around 20 times since then. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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Tbilisi City Court has ruled that 60 per cent of shares of TV channel Rustavi 2 be frozen after two founders of the channel filed a lawsuit against current owner Kibal Khalvashi last week.
Khalvashi, who stated his shares were illegally confiscated under the United National Movement leadership back in 2006, won the ownership dispute in the European Court of Human Rights in July 2019.
Founder of Rustavi 2 David Dvali and Jarji Akimidze say that their stake, 60 per cent of the shares of the company, were also illegally confiscated by the previous United National Movement government in 2004 and Khalvashi was involved in the process.
Kibar Khalvashi (L), Jarji Akimidze and David Dvali (R). Photo: RFE/RL.
On October 17 2019 they [Dvali, Akimidze] appealed to the court to freeze 60 per cent of Rustavi 2 shares “until the ownership dispute” is resolved.
Tbilisi City Court has accepted to discuss the case and allowed the freeze of 60 per cent of shares,” lawyer of Dvali and Akimidze, Kakha Kozhoridze, posted on his Facebook page earlier today.
Khalvashi’s lawyer and current Director General of Rustavi 2 Paata Salia stated last week that the imitation period for filing a lawsuit regarding the case expired in 2014 for Akimidze and Dvali, adding that the founders “are late.”
He [Salia] stated later that the court's decision will be appealed, adding that the channel "continues broadcasting as usual."
David Dvali and Jarji Akimidze, the founders of Rustavi 2 TV channel in 1994, have filed a lawsuit against the current owner Kibar Khalvashi after Khalvashi won the channel ownership dispute at the European Court of Human Rights back in July 2019. Dvali and Akimidze say that their 60 per cent of the shares were also illegally confiscated by the previous United National Movement government in 2004 and Khalvashi was involved in the process.
David Dvali and Jarji Akimidze, the founders of Rustavi 2 TV channel in 1994, say they will use “all legal” means to regain the channel from its new owner Kibar Khalvashi. Dvali and Akimidze spoke about the TV channel ownership dispute with parliament members yesterday.
Nika Gvaramia, a former Director General of Rustavi 2 TV, who was dismissed as soon as the ex-owner of the channel Kibar Khalvashi was given back his shares of the channel July 18, has announced the creation of a new channel, “which will start broadcasting earlier than you think.”
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze says that yesterday’s ruling of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the Rustavi 2 ownership dispute confirmed that justice was neglected by the United National Movement leadership (UNM). The ECHR ruling effectively allowed the return of 100 per cent of the channel’s shares to its former owner Kibar Khalvashi.
Tbilisi City Court has allowed the seizure of real estate of Rustavi 2 TV channel, according to the demand of the founders of the channel David Dvali and Jarji Akimidze. Back in 2019 the same court ruled that 60 per cent of shares of the TV channel be frozen after the founders filed a lawsuit against current owner Kibal Khalvashi. Khalvashi, who stated his shares were illegally confiscated under the United National Movement leadership back in 2006, won the ownership dispute in the European Court of Human Rights in July 2019.