Kibar Khalvashi, the owner of Rustavi 2 TV, released a statement regarding the verdict against Nika Gvaramia, the founder of Mtavari Arkhi.

“Today’s decision confirms the simple legal truth that Nika Gvaramia with the consent of the then illegal owners of the broadcaster, intentionally caused GEL 6.7 million financial damage to Rustavi 2 by concluding a deal with Intermedia.

This damage still bears a heavy burden on Rustavi 2, which was returned to its rightful owner in 2019 by the decisions of the Georgian and Strasbourg courts.

The motive for causing the damage to Rustavi 2 was the circumstance that, according to the then illegal owners and the General Director of the TV company, Rustavi 2 would be returned to the rightful owner.

They themselves knew that they had no legal basis for maintaining the TV station, which was eventually confirmed by the ECHR. Of particular importance is the fact that the damage to the TV station continued even after the Strasbourg court temporarily suspended the execution of the relevant decision of the Supreme Court of Georgia.

This means that Nika Gvaramia abused the temporary measure imposed by the Strasbourg court, using it to cause additional damage to the TV company in the amount of several million GEL, which is a clear manifestation of the rude attitude towards the Strasbourg court.

I call on the perpetrators to fully compensate the multimillion-dollar damage to the TV station. For this purpose, based on the criminal verdict, I will immediately file a civil lawsuit in court”, - reads the statement of Kibar Khalvashi.