Mtavari Arkhi TV channel Director accuses opposition leaders of embezzlement

Giogri Kurdadze, the Director of the opposition-leaning Mtavari Arkhi TV channel, on Friday accused former executives Nika Gvaramia [now the leader of the opposition Coalition for Change] and Koba Nakopia [one of the leaders of the opposition UNM party] of deliberately inflicting financial harm on the TV channel through embezzlement and financial mismanagement.

In a statement, Kurdadze alleged that Gvaramia and Nakopia had systematically siphoned off advertising revenue, contributing to the channel's current debt of over ₾25 million.

Kurdadze refuted claims made by Gvaramia who said that Mtavari Arkhi TV channel had no outstanding debts.

“Nika Gvaramia's statement that Mtavari Arkhi currently has no debts is a blatant lie”, Kurdadze asserted.

He listed numerous outstanding liabilities, including unpaid employee salaries, debts to service providers, and over ₾13 million owed to the state budget, in addition to millions owed to Omega Group.

The statement further alleged that Gvaramia and Nakopia, who Kurdadze claimed still exert informal control over the channel, had recently misappropriated nearly ₾4 million from advertising sales, adding that “the advertising company New Sales was sold at a symbolic price on March 6 through a fraudulent scheme orchestrated by Gvaramia and Nakopia”.

Further claims suggest that New Sales was transferred to a Ukrainian driver associated with Nakopia, while the company's management was entrusted to another Ukrainian national close to Nakopia. The funds were then allegedly handed over to a political ally of Gvaramia, identified as Makasarashvili.

Kurdadze emphasised that Gvaramia and Nakopia had been robbing Mtavari Arkhi for years, taking profits from advertising revenues and saddling the TV channel with millions in debts.

He also stressed that Gvaramia and Nakopia had deliberately harmed Mtavari Arkhi, its audience, staff, the state budget, and the channel’s founder Zaza Okuashvili, without whom the TV channel would not have been created.

Kurdadze concluded his statement by vowing that all those involved in the alleged criminal activities would be held accountable before the law.