On August 5, Tbilisi City Court  ordered a freeze on the assets of the Rustavi 2 Broadcasting Company as well as on the shares of its owners and restricted the Company`s right to obtain any financing for its daily broadcasting operations. The Court also prohibited the Company to undertake any financial obligations including loans, bank guarantees or any other financial commitments critical for its proper functioning.

In order to overcome the imposed financial problems and ensure functioning of the TV company, the shareholders of “TV Sakartvelo” LLC, a major shareholder of Rustavi 2 Broadcasting Company, have decided to sell all of their shares in “TV Sakartvelo “LLC while preserving their 40 percent share in Rustavi 2. According to the purchase agreement, the investor undertook the obligation to invest 6 million US dollars in Rustavi 2 Broadcasting Company.  Contrary to the declaration of the claimant, these funds were intended as investment in the charter capital of Rustavi 2 Broadcasting Company and did not imply any obligations from Rustavi 2.The relevant documents prepared in full compliance with the Georgian legislation and interim injunction issued by Tbilisi City Court were filed for registration in the Public Registry. The Public Registry suspended the registration proceedings based on absurd grounds.

Despite the absurdity of requirements, the requested documents were filed once again. However, the Public Registry has not delivered the decision in the statutorily prescribed framework, until now.

Meanwhile, it has become known that Tbilisi City Court has arrested the shares of “TV Sakartvelo” LLC on the request of the representative of Kibar Khalvashi. “TV Sakartvelo” LLC is a parent company of Rustavi 2 Broadcasting Company and the identity of its owners has no relevance, whatsoever,  to the dispute at hand. It is noteworthy that the Court discussed Kibar Khalvashi`s request regarding the arrest of the shares in “TV Sakartvelo” LLC  and surprisingly managed to issue the interim injunction just in two hours.

The action undertaken by Kibar Khalvashi confirms beyond doubt that the real intention of the claimant is to destroy the company and not to “reclaim” the property which he actually sold ten years ago. Otherwise , how can one explain the action of the person who wants to reclaim his property and turns down such a huge investment not tied  to any obligation.

It is evident that Kibar Khalvashi is only a tool in the hands of Bidzina Ivanishvili and his Government through which they intend to destroy the most influential independent media outlet in Georgia.