Georgia’s Leading TV Stations Owned By Offshore Company – Daily

Georgia’s two leading TV stations are owned by an offshore company registered in the Marshall Islands, Georgian daily newspaper Rezonansi has said. The newspaper noted that, according to a reliable source, former Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili’s brother, MP Davit Bezhuashvili indirectly owns the two TV channels. The following is an excerpt from Giorgi Putkaradze’s report in Georgian newspaper Rezonansi on 4 March headlined “Who owns Georgian TV stations?”; subheadings inserted editorially:

Georgia’s two leading TV stations owned by offshore company

The identity of the owners of Georgia’s TV stations remains a secret. The question that has been asked by the public on more than one occasion is yet to be answered. We only know that an offshore company registered in the Marshall Islands owns 55 per cent of shares in the group which comprises the two leading TV channels (Rustavi-2 and Mze) and the Pirveli Stereo music channel. It is impossible to identify the company’s owner due its offshore status.

Given that the opposition has accused Rustavi-2 and Mze of blatantly supporting the government, it would be interesting to know who controls the TV stations that have become the most popular channels following the suspension of Imedi’s broadcasts. According to the documents that were presented by Rustavi-2 General Director Irakli Chikovani to the National Communications Regulatory Commission three months ago, the TV station is owned by LLC Georgian Industrial Group Holding and the Geomedia Group corporation. The latter owns 55 per cent of the TV station’s shares.

What kind of an organization is Geomedia Group and who owns it? Rezonansi tried to find this out. According to the information from the Civil Registry, the company is registered in the Marshall Islands and its address is as obscure as the identity of its owners: Ajeltake Road, Ajeltake Island, Majuro, Marshall Islands. This is what the address of the media group looks like. Irakli Chikovani is authorized to manage Rustavi-2 and act as its representative. He owns a 100-per cent share of LLC Channel Nine too. It is also worth noting that, according to the information from the Civil Registry, Geomedia Group acquired the majority stake in Rustavi-2 and Mze in February 2007. The company itself was founded in January and was registered at the aforementioned location.

The same companies are the founders of Mze. Geomedia Group owns a majority stake (55 per cent) in the station. It is not known why Geomedia Group is considered to be the TV channel’s founder.

According to the Civil Registry, the charter capital of Rustavi- 2 is 2,000 lari [approximately 1,300 dollars] of which 900 lari belongs to Georgian Industrial Group Holding and the remaining 1,100 lari – to Geomedia Group. The charter capital of Mze is 330,000 dollars.

As we have said, Geomedia group owns 55 per cent of the shares. At the same time, Georgian Industrial Group Holding, formerly known as Georgian National Investment owns LLC Georgian Business Consulting. The latter entity is involved in all sorts of activities that are not prohibited by the law. Malkhaz Gulashvili, founder of the Georgian Times holding and owner of the Georgian Times newspaper, is one of its shareholders.

As for Imedi, JSC I-Media still owns 100 per cent of the TV stations shares. Shota Chaveishvili is the company’s authorized representative. The charter capital of the company is over 30m lari. In November 2007, I-Media handed over its 100-per cent share to the well-know News Corp Europe for management. There was something suspicious about the deal though: I-Media only pays a monthly fee of 3,500 dollars to News Corp and the agreement is effective until 31 October 2008. The I-Media company is involved in establishment and management of media outlets. It was founded by JSC GMG and LLC Universal. GMG owns 60 per cent of the shares including 25 per cent of the preference shares, while Universal owns 35 per cent of the ordinary shares. I-Media is also a 100-per cent owner of the Imedi radio channel. As for GMG, businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili was one of its shareholders and also the chairman of Imedi’s supervisory board.

Reliable source says TV stations owned by former foreign minister’s brother

Still, who controls the Georgian TV stations? We contacted Georgian Media Union General Director Zaza Tananashvili. It turned out that he did not know who controls the companies that manage Mze and Rustavi-2 despite being the general director of one of the TV channels.

Zaza Tananashvili: “I can tell you that Geomedia Group and Georgian Industrial Group own this holding. I do not have information on Geomedia. Georgian Industrial Group owns shares of different media outlets. I do not know anything about the individuals who control them”.

We visited Georgian Industrial Group’s website but it carries nothing but the company’s logo and is inaccessible. However, we have learned from a reliable source that the aforementioned group is owned by the Kemeksin International company which belongs to [MP] Davit Bezhuashvili, brother of Foreign Intelligence Special Service Chief Gela Bezhuashvili. The former foreign minister’s brother is therefore the real owner of both Georgian Industrial Group and Georgian Business Consulting, which means that he also indirectly owns 55 per cent of shares in Rustavi-2 and Mze.

Natia Turnava, executive director of Georgian Industrial Group whom we asked to comment on the subject, did not have this information.

“I do not know the details. I am only an executive director. I do not have any information”, Turnava said.

As for Imedi, the TV channel’s lawyer, Soso Baratashvili has said that it is owned by the I-Media holding which was founded by the GMG and Universal companies. However, Baratashvili refused to identify the owners of these companies. He said that late businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili was one of the founders of GMG and owned 15 per cent of its shares.

[Passage omitted: Media experts Ia Antadze and Davit Paichadze call for greater transparency in media ownership affairs]

Originally published by Rezonansi, Tbilisi, in Georgian 4 Mar 08 p 11.

(c) 2008 BBC Monitoring Central Asia. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.