Kibar Khalvashi Officially Registers as Rustavi 2 Owner

Businessman Kibar Khalvashi has been officially registered as the owner of Rustavi 2 TV.  The change has already appeared in the Public Registry data.

The data of the Public Registry shows that 60% of Rustavi 2 broadcasting company is owned by Kibar Khalvashi, while 40% is registered to the Company Panorama, which is owned by Kibar Khalvashi as well.

According to the data of Public Registry, at this stage, Nika Gvaramia remains the Director-General of the TV Company.

However, as Khalvashi stated today, soon this post will be occupied by his lawyer Paata Salia.

Today, the European Court of Human Rights delivered a verdict in the ownership case of one of Georgia’s largest TV channels, Rustavi 2.

According to the Court’s judgment, there were no violations of any Article of the European Convention on Human Rights in the case of Rustavi 2. Additionally, the rights of Rustavi 2 and its owners were not violated in the Georgian courts. Rustavi 2 can appeal the case in the Grand Chamber of Strasbourg.

The Strasbourg Court suspended a temporary measure whereby the mechanism of suspending the judgment of the Supreme Court of Georgia will no longer exist. Accordingly, the TV company will be re-registered to shareholder Kibar Khalvashi, as it was decided by the courts of three instances in Georgia. 

Kibar Khalvashi, the former shareholder of one of the largest TV companies in Georgia Rustavi 2, to whom the company will be reregistered again according to today's decision of the European Court of Human Rights, has named his lawyer Paata Salia as a new Director-General of Rustavi 2. Salia will change Nika Gvaramia, the current Director-General of the TV Company.

According to Kibar Khalvashi, he does not intend to change the TV channel’s editorial policy.

“I’m not going to change the editorial policy of Rustavi 2. The changes will only apply to one person – Nika Gvaramia, who was appointed on this post by the regime which took away my company from me (ex-government). Gvaramia will no longer be able to continue his activities at Rustavi 2 neither as a journalist nor as a Director-General. My lawyer Paata Salia will head the Company instead of him”, Khalvashi said.

Related Story: European Court of Human Rights to Deliver Verdict on Rustavi 2 Today

By Ana Dumbadze