Prominent independent Georgian channel Mtavari to cease broadcasting from 1 May
Independent Georgian channel Mtavari to shut down on 1 May
From 1 May, the independent Georgian channel Mtavari will officially cease broadcasting. Channel staff were informed by the general director, Giorgi Gabunia.
According to the channel’s founder and one of the leaders of the Coalition for Change, Nika Gvaramia, “the main channel will be closed, but a new one will open.”
“It cannot be otherwise — I believe it and I know it. The main thing is that the country itself does not close down, otherwise there will be no point in either opening or closing [channels],” Gvaramia wrote on social media.
Journalists and channel staff have also commented on the closure of Mtavari. Journalist Irakli Bakhtadze wrote on social media that his five-year period of work has come to an end and that he is now being forced to leave the ‘home’ he had been part of since its founding.
Journalist Tatia Tsotsonava published a similar post, noting that staff had fought to create and preserve the media outlet “at the cost of their health and lives.”
On 11 December 2024, Mtavari’s general director Giorgi Gabunia made a statement claiming that one of the channel’s founders, businessman Zaza Okuashvili, was deliberately steering the channel towards closure.
According to Gabunia, a few months earlier, Okuashvili had appointed his trusted associate, Gogi Kurdadze, as the channel’s director, who has allegedly been obstructing its operations by blocking all financial transactions and refusing to sign vital contracts.
Gabunia said there were strong suspicions that Okuashvili was either acting directly under an agreement with Georgian Dream or using Mtavari as a bargaining chip with the ruling party. At the time, Gabunia stated that journalists would continue fighting and remain on air for as long as possible, although he admitted it would be difficult given the crisis created by one of the channel’s founders.
Mtavari was launched in September 2019 at the initiative of opposition figure Nika Gvaramia, with some shares later transferred to companies owned by businessman Zaza Okuashvili. Since February, live broadcasts on the channel have been suspended, and the programming has consisted mainly of TV series.
