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Headmen of ruling Georgian Dream party at a protest in favour of the 'foreign agents law' (April 2024, Jelger Groeneveld, Wikimedia Commons)
The Netherlands' role as home to dubious, tax-dodging letterbox firms is well known. However, our country also appears to host propaganda channels that threaten democracy in other countries. Research by the Max van der Stoel Foundation in cooperation with Georgian activists (names known to editors) shows that the parent company of the Georgian channel 'Imedi TV', known as a mouthpiece of the authoritarian, pro-Russian Georgian Dream government, is registered in the Amsterdam Zuidas. Imedi TV is used by oligarchs and the Georgian government to push the country further from its democratic path. The channel Spreads fake news about elections, the European Union and the protests in the country. We should not facilitate this as the Netherlands. In doing so, we have an opportunity through sanctions to push back the anti-democratic forces in Georgia.
The "Media Finance Group" and Imedi TV
Imedi TV's parent company is the 'Media Finance Group B.V.', This company owns Georgian Media Production Group LLC, which Imedi TV falls under. This company is registered in Amsterdam-Zuid, at the Parnassus Tower, in Amsterdam-Zuid. The Media Finance Group acquired Imedi TV in 2021 en is under the co-ownership of Imedi owner Irakli Rukhadze. There have already been major fraud cases in the UK surrounding Rukhadze's assets, in which he had to pay damages of $170 million. These cases particularly focused on settlements of assets of the late, controversial billionaire Badri Patarkatsishvili. This oligarch was very involved in Georgian politics until his death in 2008 and founded Imedi TV in 2001. Ownership of the popular Imedi TV became part of a major political power play between 2008 and 2012, after which it reverted to private hands. Moving the TV company to a Dutch 'letterbox' makes it harder for the Georgian government to place large media companies under public control.
The UK also controversy surrounding the company Hunewell Partners, where Rukhadze sits on the board. Hunewell owns Media Finance Group, as well as Tolanius Beheer BV, which owns the highly lucrative 'Rustavi Steel LLC' steel company, and Cement Invest BV, which owns 'Georgian Cement'. Both companies also have a letterbox in Amsterdam. So oligarch Rukhadze's ties in the Netherlands extend beyond media company Imedi. Financial capital is released through these tax structures in the Netherlands and the UK. This can then be used to strengthen the grip on Georgian democracy through investments in media companies and banking. Through the 'Liberty Bank' - of which Rukhadze is chairman of the board, all pension and social security benefits are paid in Georgia. We know Georgian Dream used social welfare to buy votes in elections.
Who is Rukhadze?
Imedi TV is thus controlled by Irakli Rukhadze, an oligarch who made his fortune in Georgian banking. Rukhadze is a business partner of Georgia's most famous oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili and is under sanctions by a number of EU countries, as well as Ukraine. The UK is currently investigating the possibility of imposing sanctions on Rukhadze after questions asked in the House of Commons. Also in the US - before Trump's inauguration - Rukhadze was identified as a person who "enables" human rights and rule of law violations by Georgian Dream and therefore may fall under the sanctions regime. Rukhadze himself does not believe he will face sanctions from the US, since he holds US citizenship.
Imedi TV is known as a mouthpiece of ruling Georgian Dream party. It spreads fake news around protests and elections, incites hatred against minorities such as the LGBTI community and shares falsehoods about the European Union. Particularly in recent months, Imedi has played a major role in Georgia's democratic decline. Imedi TV featured the only exit poll in which Georgian Dream received an absolute majority in elections last October, with percentages disputed and unrecognised by many researchers and international observers. And after opposition leader Giorgi Gakharia had been attacked, Imedi TV published a cut-and-paste video presenting Gakharia as the culprit. At the same time, real footage from the hotel seized by the government refusing to make it public. Owner Rukhadze briefly reiterated after the elections how he views the opposition and Georgian democracy. "They (Georgian Dream, ed.) should have banned the UNM party when they had the chance in 2012".
Action needed from the Dutch government
Imedi TV and Rukhadze are thus complicit in the violence and undemocratic policies of Georgian Dream. Ivanishvili's party has been in power in Georgia since 2012, but since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, they have adopted an increasingly pro-Russian and authoritarian tone. There is ample evidence that the party manipulated the last elections in October in their favour, leading the EU to also unrecognised. In addition to this, the party also uses violence to quash peaceful protests and intimidate opposition politicians. Amnesty International describes, for example, the large scale in which Georgian police have recently been mistreating and even torturing protesters and journalists without consequence.
Tolerating and fuelling this violence, dismantling democracy and the pro-Russian course of Georgian Dream has led many countries to impose sanctions on representatives of the party. For example, the Netherlands joins Europe in restricting visa-free travel for leaders of the Georgian government. If we are serious about our support for the democratic movement in Georgia, we must also look at our own house and not shelter letterbox firms of propaganda outlets. A visit by the FIOD to this letterbox near the Parnassus Tower would therefore not be out of place.
