Ex-director of Rustavi 2 questioned for possible illegal deals
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Monday, August 5
The former head of the opposition-minded Rustavi 2 TV channel, ex-Justice Minister Nika Gvaramia has been questioned for possible abuse of power - signing illegal deals while in the post- which financially affected the channel.
The Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office summoned Gvaramia for interrogation after an address of a former, nine-percent shareholder of the channel Nino Nizharadze, who accuses Gvaramia of making unlawful deals with commercial companies ‘to accumulate funds’ for opening a new channel.
She says she suffered millions of loss due to the “unlawful agreements” signed with Intermedia and other companies.
Gvaramia says that the process has “political grounds.”
“They were asking me about the ad deals, the prices of the contracts. It’s senseless to discuss it. But the prosecutors can’t do anything; they have been ordered to do it. It almost means to ask winemakers why and how the prices on wine are determined,” Gvaramia said after being questioned.
The Prosecutor’s Office says that documents and electronic information required for the investigation will be seized from the contractor companies of Rustavi 2, including InterMedia and InterMedia Plus, on the basis of the court ruling.
Head of InterMedia Misha Mshvildadze shares the view on “political prosecution,” and says that “InterMedia had been warned about possible problems if they refused to release some of their popular projects on Rustavi 2 channel.”
“One of such products is a popular TV series My Wife’s Friends,” Mshvildadze said.
After the return of 100 percent of Rustavi 2 shares to its former owner Kibar Khalvashi on July 18 by the European Court of Human Rights, Gvaramia announced the creation of a new channel which will allegedly start broadcasting in the autumn.
Nizharadze addressed the Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office to start an investigation against Gvaramia before the ruling of the European Court, on July 16.
She said then that if the European Court returned Rustavi 2 shares to its former owner Khalvashi, as it was ruled by all three courts of Georgia in 2017, Gvaramia and the already former leadership of the channel would have had funds to open a new media outlet.
Nizharadze said that she suffered 28 million GEL damage due to the “deals signed by Gvaramia.”
