Mtavari Arkhi employees accuse co-founder Zaza Okuashvili of plotting to shut down channel in favor of Ivanishvili

The General Director of Mtavari Arkhi, Giorgi Gabunia announced during an emergency briefing on Wednesday evening that co-founder Zaza Okuashvili has ’’decided to do exactly what Bidzina Ivanishvili needs most today—shut down Mtavari Arkhi.’’

According to Gabunia, Okuashvili is attempting to close it through Gogi Kurdadze, a director appointed by Okuashvili a few months ago and described as a compliant executor of his directives. Gabunia claimed that Kurdadze was installed with the sole purpose of giving Okuashvili control over the channel to achieve personal goals. Kurdadze, under Okuashvili’s instructions, has allegedly blocked all financial operations and refused to sign critical contracts necessary for the channel’s survival, including agreements essential for employees’ health insurance.

“At a time when the Georgian people are fighting in the streets to defend their rights and remove an illegitimate government, when protesters are being openly brutalized, tortured, robbed, unlawfully detained, prosecuted, and imprisoned, and when journalists on the frontlines are being targeted with physical violence—some barely escaping severe injury or death—Zaza Okuashvili, instead of supporting his team, has chosen to join in the violence initiated by Georgian Dream against journalists. He is using his resources to render our work impossible,” Gabunia stated.

Gabunia alleged that Kurdadze has no expertise in television operations, barely interacts with employees, ignores their requests to meet, and rarely even visits the office. Instead, he allegedly focuses on obstructing the channel’s operations by blocking financial transactions and withholding essential approvals. As a result, Gabunia noted, employees have lost health insurance, a critical resource given the targeted violence against journalists and camera operators in the current climate.

Gabunia accused Okuashvili of systematically depriving the channel of financial resources, which is leading to the gradual termination of contracts essential to its operations. “This is exactly what Bidzina Ivanishvili needs right now,” he added.

The channel’s General Director dismissed as absurd Okuashvili’s claims that Gabunia and his team are allied with Ivanishvili and Georgian Dream. Gabunia described this accusation as a baseless fabrication meant to justify actions aimed at shutting down Mtavari Arkhi.

“In reality, it is clear that if anyone at Mtavari Arkhi is serving the Georgian Dream’s interests, it is Zaza Okuashvili, who appears to be intentionally leading the channel toward closure. There is strong suspicion that this is being done in coordination with or as a bargaining tool with the illegitimate government, given Okuashvili’s ongoing legal disputes with Ivanishvili,” Gabunia said.

Gabunia pointed to Okuashvili’s history of collaborating with Georgian Dream, recalling how members of Okuashvili’s family previously supported the ruling party by voting in favor of Georgian Dream-backed candidates for the Justice Council when the government needed opposition votes to secure their election.

“We did not fight this hard to hand over the channel to Bidzina Ivanishvili through Zaza Okuashvili. We will continue to fight and remain on air for our viewers and the Georgian people for as long as we can,” Gabunia emphasized.