Ex-Director General of Rustavi 2 publishes logo of his new TV channel
By Tea Mariamidze
Friday, August 23
Former Director-General of Rustavi 2 TV, Nika Gvaramia, has released the logo and the slogan of the new TV channel founded by him, named the Main Channel (Mtavari Arkhi).
Gvaramia said that the author of the logo is Rustavi 2 TV former journalist, Giorgi Gabunia, who was dismissed a day before by Paata Salia, the new director-general of Rustavi 2 TV, with some other prominent journalists of the TV Channel.
According to him, the main slogan of the new TV broadcaster will be “Obtain Freedom with Us.” Gvaramia says the former journalists of Rustavi 2 will start working at the Main Channel, adding the Director-General of the channel, Irakli Nizharadze is Financial Director, while the former lawyers of Rustavi 2: DimitrySadzaglishvili and Tamta Muradashvili are mentioned as Directors in the official documents
Nika Gvaramia owns 51% of shares of Main Channel and Kakhaber Anjaparidze owns 49%. Anjaparidze is also a shareholder of Intermedia Plus LLC. He was the seventh convocation parliamentarian in 2008-2012.
As Gvaramia says, the distribution of shares is temporary and it will be changed in the future.
“You will soon find out about investors, the building, the frequency and we count on you. Even a single GEL of your contribution will help us greatly and will be an investment in Georgia's western and democratic future. So we are starting! Coming Soon! Sooner than you thought,” he stated a few days ago.
In addition, on August 20, after Paata Salia fired the main faces of Rustavi 2 TV channel, Gvaramia offered the former employee to join the Main Channel.
Gvaramia says the contracts with the staff of Main Channel will be signed from August 26, and it will air in the autumn this year.
When dismissing main staff, the new director-general of Rustavi 2 named the public statements of the journalists against the new owner of Rustavi 2 TV, Kibar Khalvashi, among the reasons of the conflict of interest. He said it is not right that a person, who is working on the channel wants to change the TV owner.
A group of NGOs released a joint statement regarding the developments in Rustavi 2. They say the dismissal of leading journalists at Rustavi 2 on vague grounds is actually a change of the editorial policy of the channel.
“It is clear that the developments around Rustavi 2 have a negative effect on the media environment in Georgia and that it will also negatively impact the freedom of the press, as well as the democratic development of the country,” the NGOs stressed.
To note, Tbilisi City Court ordered GEL 40,000 bail for Rustavi 2 TV former Director-General, Nika Gvaramia, and prohibited him to leave the country without notifying the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia (POG).
The court made the decision on August 11 and gave Gvaramia one month to pay the bail.
Gvaramia was charged by the POG for an offense under Article 220 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which pertains to the use of managerial and representational powers in an enterprise against the legitimate interest of the enterprise, for the purpose of getting profit for others, which caused significant damage.
The POG said that on January 16, 2015, Gvaramia, as the director-general of Rustavi 2, signed an agreement on behalf of the TV channel with InterMedia Plus, owned by his friends, adding the agreement allowed the company to place commercial advertisements on Rustavi 2 for free.
The agency noted as a result, in 2015, Rustavi 2 faced 7,377,230 GEL of declared damage, whereas Inter Media Plus received 8,690,664 GEL of profit. It was asking for GEL 80,000 bail for Gvaramia, but the judge decided to satisfy the request partially.
Gvaramia says he is innocent, adding the charges against him were raised due to his critical attitude towards the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party founder and chair Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is often referred to as the “informal ruler” of the country.
He announced that he will not pay the bail imposed on him.
