Court Allows for Rustavi 2’s Immediate Takeover

Tbilisi City Court on Thursday evening terminated Rustavi 2’s General Director Nika Gvaramia’s right to rule the Television Company, appointing two outsider persons as provisional heads of Georgia’s largest TV Company until the Constitutional Court makes the final decision on the ownership.

Judge Tamaz Urtmelidze has ruled that Kibar Khalvashi’s immediate takeover has to be reflected in the civil registry documentation before it is binding.

Davit Dvali, a former co-owner of the company, and Revaz Sakervarishvili, the Deputy Director of rival TV Company Imedi, have been appointed provisional heads of Rustavi 2. It is thought the two have some pro-government affiliations.

Rustavi 2’s current management considered the ruling unlawful based on the Constitutional Court’s ruling three days ago to temporarily suspend the government’s right to immediately enforce decisions in first instance courts if they have been appealed to a higher instance court.

Nika Gvaramia posted on his Facebook page last night “congratulations my friends. Dictatorship has been officially established in Georgia now.”

Following the decision, Gvaramia is holding an emergency briefing saying that the government has eradicated even the traces of democracy in Georgia, reversing the country’s course from Euro-Atlantic integration towards Russia’s Eurasian Union.

The current situation surrounding the company has been called dire by experts and they say there is no answer on how the situation will develop.