The accounts and assets of Hereti, a Georgian radio company critical of the government, have been frozen. While the official reason given was financial debt, its owner, Ramaz Samkharadze, suspected potential political motives.
Samkharadze stated in public interviews that he received a relevant notification on Wednesday morning. More specifically, a garnishment was imposed on the company’s assets — a banking operation through which the state recovers funds from a debtor via the bank.
‘I got an email in which the Bank of Georgia stated that our accounts had been frozen’, he told TV Formula, naming the Georgian Revenue Service as the authority behind the freeze.
The Hereti radio holding company brought together three stations: Radio Tbilisi in the capital, Radio Hereti in Kakheti, and Radio Tsitrusi in Adjara.
According to Samkharadze, before the freeze was imposed, the company had already begun the process of renewing its license with the National Communications Commission and had paid the licensing fee.
He added that while the company does indeed have acknowledged financial debt, ‘we’re not talking about millions here […] we have several thousand in acknowledged debt’.
Samkharadze spoke of a ‘discriminatory approach’, noting that several TV stations — including pro-government channels — owe the state millions of dollars.
‘We don’t have anyone backing us from above — neither the government nor the opposition. That makes us an easy target for attack’, he added.
Samkharadze referred to an ‘aggressive campaign’ against his company, which he said began as early as 2023, when ‘the station’s Facebook page was attacked, we received threats of physical harm, and were verbally abused’.
‘I went to the police, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the investigative department […] but there was no result, no response to these specific incidents’, he added, noting that ‘this is a whole chain of context that has been unfolding for a long time’.
Samkharadze also emphasised that just one day before the garnishment was imposed, he had publicly addressed Sozar Subari — an MP from the People’s Power party affiliated with Georgian Dream. Samkharadze asked the MP to summon him to speak before the parliamentary commission investigating the former ruling party, the United National Movement (UNM).
In his post, Samkharadze wrote that he would ‘gladly’ testify before the commission about the state of the advertising market under UNM, as well as ‘corruption chains’ and ‘state-funded propaganda media’ under Georgian Dream rule.
‘Yesterday, I publicly addressed Sozar Subari with a critical post — today, garnishment!’ he wrote on Facebook on Wednesday, adding that ‘nothing is coincidental’.
OC Media has contacted the Revenue Service press office regarding the Hereti radio holding but has yet to receive an answer.
Mikheil Gvadzabia
