Rustavi 2 case: Prosecutor claims Ex-head Gvaramia’s guilt in misuse of funds proved by accountant’s testimony
Currently, Nika Gvaramia is the director of the opposition-minded TV channel Mtavari Arkhi which he founded after he left Rustavi 2. Photo: Mtavari.tv.
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Georgian prosecutor Zviad Gubeladze who is working on Rustavi 2 case says that the ex-head of the TV channel Nika Gvaramia’s guilt in the case of the misuse of the TV station's funds back in 2015 is proved by the testimony of the company’s accountant.
Former director general of Rustavi 2 Nika Gvaramia along with former financial director of the TV company Kakhaber Damenia and head of LTD Intermedia Plus Zurab Iashvili were charged with misuse of funds, bribery and fabrication of documents after the Rustavi 2 was returned to its former owner Kibar Khalvashi in July 2019.
Intermedia Plus based on the agreement with Rustavi 2 was obliged to transfer 90-95 per cent of the profit gained from commercials to Rustavi 2 and retain only the remaining 10 or five per cent for its service.
Gubeladze states that Rustavi 2’s accountant saw signs of a possible crime after studying the TV station’s revenues and informed the prosecutor about it.
The testimony of the mentioned witness proves that indeed, in 2015, the income of Rustavi 2 was radically reduced by several million, this period exactly coincides with (period of) the crime,” said Gubeladze.
The court ruled 40,000 GEL bail for Gvaramia and 50,000 GEL bail for Damenia and Iashvili back in 2019-2020.
Nika Gvaramia was the director of Rustavi 2 for two years from 2012 while from 2014 he became director general of the company.
He was forced to leave the position after the verdict of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) was ruled in favour of former Rustavi 2's owner Khalvashi in late July 2019.
Rustavi 2 was established in 1994 by three shareholders: David Dvali, Jarji Akimidze and Erosi Kitsmarishvili.
Transparency International Georgia (TI Georgia) reported that only between 2004 and 2012 Rustavi 2 changed ownership about 20 times.