Georgia's prominent opposition TV channel "Mtavari" faces closure threat

Georgian broadcaster Mtavari Arkhi at risk of closure

One of Georgia’s most popular independent TV stations, Mtavari Arxi, faces the threat of closure. On December 11, its CEO, Giorgi Gabunia, claimed that Zaza Okuashvili, one of the founders and owners of the opposition channel, is “deliberately driving the station toward closure by taking concrete steps.”

“Zaza Okuashvili has chosen to do what the authorities, and ruling party leader Bidzina Ivanishvili, desire — shut down Mtavari Arxi,” Gabunia stated during a live broadcast, standing alongside other station employees.

Gabunia claims that several months ago, Okuashvili appointed his trusted associate, Gogi Kurdadze, as the channel’s director, who is deliberately hindering its operations by blocking financial transactions and refusing to sign vital contracts.

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Gabunia stated that due to Ocuashvili’s actions, “the channel’s employees’ health insurance has been suspended, which is especially critical in the current situation where journalists and camera operators are frequently attacked and beaten by security forces.“

“Okuashvili and Kurdadze are not concerned about this, despite being responsible as founder and director for the company’s employees,” said Gabunia.

He expressed “well-founded suspicions” that Ocuashvili is either acting in coordination with the ruling party or using the channel as a tool for political bargaining with the authorities.

“There is an ongoing legal dispute between Ocuashvili and Bidzina Ivanishvili. However, this does not rule out cooperation between them. On the contrary, Ocuashvili may manipulate the channel to reach an agreement in this dispute,” Gabunia said.

“Instead of supporting his team in the country’s difficult situation, one of the founders of Mtavari Arkhi has chosen to participate in mass violence initiated by the Georgian Dream,” he added.

Gabunia accused Ocuashvili of using all available resources to harm journalists and make their work impossible.

Nevertheless, he affirmed, “Journalists will continue to fight and stay on the air as long as they can, even though the crisis created by one of the channel’s founders makes it increasingly difficult.“

Gabunia added that as a result of Ocuashvili’s decisions, the company has already lost its financial sources: “Contracts with us are being terminated, which will ultimately make the channel’s operation impossible. This will accomplish what the authorities and Bidzina Ivanishvili wanted.“

Mtavari Arkhi was founded in September 2019 by a group of journalists who left the prominent Rustavi 2 TV channel after it came under the control of pro-government businessmen following a legal battle.

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Nika Gvaramia, the founder of Mtavari Arkhi and a former journalist turned opposition politician, served as the channel’s director until May 2022, when he was arrested and sentenced to 3.5 years in prison.

In June 2022, he was granted a pardon by President Salome Zourabichvili. Gvaramia is currently the leader of the opposition party Akhali.

On December 4, 2023, during pro-European protests, Gvaramia was arrested and sentenced to two weeks in prison for resisting police.