Society

Statement by the Director of Mtavari Arkhi Giorgi Kurdadze

I would like to comment on the recent events surrounding Mtavari Arkhi.

I want to note that on October 15, a report prepared by the Courier program of TV channel Rustavi-2 disclosed my letter sent to the National Bank without my consent, and this was done by such a protected institution as the National Bank.

This letter was sent by me to the National Bank only after six months had passed without any specific response from either the management of Mtavari Arkhi or New Sales. Despite my personal and written communications, nothing changed to bring them back within the legal framework of operations.

It is strange that the responsible individuals of Mtavari Arkhi do not express concern or demand an explanation from the National Bank about how such a protected institution delivered my letter to the media, namely to the Rustavi 2 TV channel, which is a violation of the law.

Regarding the statement released on behalf of Mtavari Arkhi, I want to point out that according to the statute of Mtavari Arkhi, the company is now represented by two directors (Giorgi Gabunia and I, Giorgi Kurdadze), who hold representative authority only jointly. Accordingly, under the law, the statement should have necessarily included my official approval and signature as a director. Therefore, instead of issuing a statement on behalf of Mtavari Arkhi, the relevant person or persons should have made the statement in their own name.

After the Iberia TV, which was part of the Omega Group, was replaced by the team that came from Rustavi 2 in 2019, Omega Group fully transferred the material and technical base, which Iberia had used for broadcasting, to Mtavari Arkhi.

Soon after, Mtavari Arkhi began broadcasting under the leadership of general director Nika Gvaramia, who unfortunately, during almost five years of his directorship, led the channel into a difficult financial situation. The fraudulent schemes described in my letter to the National Bank and the activities of New Sales resulted in budgetary debts for Mtavari Arkhi, which today exceed 11 million GEL.

This has also caused damage to Mtavari Arkhi's founder, who nominated me and invested millions of GEL in the company's capital.

At the same time, Gvaramia squandered millions of GEL of the Omega Group, leading to the current financial collapse, in which the employees of Mtavari Arkhi are not receiving their salaries, and the company has accumulated additional debts. All this occurred while Nika Gvaramia himself was receiving a monthly salary of more than 70,000 GEL, along with other benefits, and the number of staff was inflated.

Regarding the illegal circulation of black money brought in by Koba Nakopia for the purpose of laundering cash, which I described in my letter to the National Bank, I will not speak further, but I would like to focus on the current state of the Mtavari Arkhi.

I do not interfere in the channel's editorial policy, but Nika Gvaramia, the de facto manager of the channel, also has no right to constantly meddle in the editorial policy of Mtavari Arkhi. Viewers have noticed that Mtavari Arkhi has become extremely biased, unbalanced, and almost inaccessible to other opposition parties, whether it be the National Movement, Lelo, Gakharia’s party, the Labor Party, the European Democrats, Girchi, or others.

Today, Mtavari Arkhi is merely a party television station of Nika Gvaramia, which indirectly serves Ivanishvili's interests.

It gives the impression that the current Mtavari Arkhi and its de facto manager are part of Ivanishvili's backup plan, which is why Nika Gvaramia was able to gain immunity and support from state institutions for all the illegal actions he committed, which I described in my letter sent to the National Bank.

An indication of this is his threat to "break my head and bring me nothing good, even after the change of government," simply because I demanded documentation proving the origin of the cash he brought into Mtavari Arkhi.

As the director of Mtavari Arkhi and the representative of the channel's founder, who has suffered enormous losses due to the actions of Ivanishvili and his group, and who is still engaged in several international legal battles against Ivanishvili and his group, I cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that the channel indirectly serves Ivanishvili's interests, even if making this statement openly is not a popular move today.

Therefore, the slanderous and populist remarks made against me yesterday, as well as the election speculations, including from representatives of opposition parties, are baseless and only serve to cover up those crimes for which I have documentary evidence, and which, unfortunately, continue at Mtavari Arkhi under Ivanishvili's protection.