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Shevardnadze’s Relative Arrested
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| Gia Jokhtaberidze owns shares in Georgia’s biggest mobile phone company. |
Georgian General Prosecutor Irakli Okruashvili said on February 20, that Gia Jokhtaberidze, who was interrogated for several times regarding the activity of his company, was warned not to leave Georgia, as investigation was underway.
The General Prosecutor’s Office reports that the company has “definite problems with the state budget.” However, the General Prosecutor’s Office has not brought charges against Jokhtaberidze yet.
Gia Jokhtaberidze, as well as the Metromedia International Group, which owns shares in the MagtiCom Ltd. communications company, dismissed as groundless allegations over having “problems with the state budget.”
On February 19 Gia Jokhtaberidze convened a press conference and expressed protest regarding “the government’s pressure on businessmen.”
Earlier Manana Shevardnadze, who is ex-President Shevardnadze’s daughter and a wife of Gia Jokhtaberidze, said that the law enforcers’ allegations over the suspected violations in the company are politically-motivated.
MagtiCom Ltd. is the Georgian-American joint venture, which started operating in Georgia in 1997. The company was founded by Magti Ltd, owned by Giorgi Jokhtaberidze and Telcell Wireless of America, owned by the Metromedia International Group. Magti was the third company having entered Georgian telecommunications market.
Mark Hauf, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Metromedia International Group, told the press conference in Tbilisi in late January, “the company [MagtiCom] has no debt to the budget. It has already paid GEL 140 million [$63 million] since 1997.”
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)
