The businessman Kibar Khalvashi, the former owner of Rustavi 2, filed a lawsuit against the illegal seizure of his share of the TV Company’s assets. The Ministry of Justice of Georgia seized a part of the media’s property.
The information about Khalvashi’s lawsuit, filed with the Tbilisi City Court, was released by Nika Gvaramia, the CEO at Rustavi 2, on August 6.
According to his information, the businessman who owned the TV Company in 2005, delivered 22% of his share to the company Saktsementi (today, the Heidelberg Cement Georgia) in December of the same year, which is solely owned by Robert Bezhuashvili, the father of Gela Bezhuashvili, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. In 2006 Kibar Khalvashi negotiated the remaining 78% to the company Geo Trans of Bidzina Nizharadze, as reported by RIA Novosti.
The businessman’s lawyers confirmed his intention to get back that former property and pointed out that the lawsuit was filed on August 4. According to them, such a decision was taken by Khalvashi after learning about the re-registration of the TV Company’s shares. According to them, the claims for owning Rustavi 2 are imposed by its founders David Dvali and Jarji Akimidze, who also intend to claim for returning their shares of the TV Company, as reported by Regnum.
On August, 6, the National Execution Office of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia seized the property of Rustavi 2, more specifically several cars.
Nika Gvaramia, the CEO at TV Company, who called the operation of Rustavi 2 as the matter of existential importance in the Georgian democracy, stated his intention to appeal against the property seizure decision.
For sure we will appeal, and there will be a large-scale legal war, but not just legal. We have other methods to be surely applied, as this dispute is not only within the legal framework on the plaintiff’s initiative. The plaintiff is not only Kibar Khalvashi, but also the actual authorities, as Gvaramia quoted by the Georgia Online edition.
According to him, on August 10, the court will decide whether to start a legal dispute with the TV Company.
Today, the TV Company’s shareholders are Levan Karamanashvili (50%), George Karamanashvili (40%) and George Gegeshidze (10%). Kibar Khalvashi himself left Georgia in 2007, and his business was brought to the hummer. The businessman actually lives in Germany.
As informed by the Caucasian Knot, in June 2012, as a part of the investigation of vote buying in Georgia, there were sealed off warehouses with satellite dishes of the Global TV Company, co-owned by the brother of the billionaire and opposition leader Bidzina Ivanishvili. We have found evidence, including information provided by the Control Chamber, that prove the fact of some people’s continuous free transfering TV dishes to voters in return of their support of certain political entity, as released by the Georgian Prosecutor’s Office.
In June of the same month, the Tbilisi City Court imposed a fine of 126.2 million lari (about 77.5 million dollars) on Ivanishvili, regarding the case of free distribution of satellite dishes by the Global Consulting Group.
