TBILISI, November 4 – A fire in the building housing Formula TV forced the government-critical channel to temporarily stop broadcasting Wednesday afternoon. The fire started at the Delisi business center on Vazha-Pshavela Avenue shortly before 4 p.m., Interpressnews reported. Formula presenter Nino Zhizhilashvili initially said some employees could not get out because of the smoke, ... Read more
TBILISI, November 4 – The corruption trial of Georgia’s jailed former prime minister Irakli Garibashvili has been closed to the public after prosecutors argued that testimony could reveal state secrets or other confidential information. Judge Tamar Mchedlishvili granted the prosecution’s request Monday as Tbilisi City Court began substantive hearings in the case, Interpressnews reported. Garibashvili ... Read more
TBILISI, November 3 – The testimony of a former official has strengthened the case of exiled former prime minister Giorgi Gakharia. Maia Tskitishvili, who was infrastructure and regional development minister at the time, testified Monday as a defense witness in the case over a Georgian police checkpoint established near the dividing line with Russian-backed South ... Read more
TBILISI, October 30 – Georgia’s environmental inspectors have stepped up patrols around a mountain resort after its founder said near-daily gunfire was frightening guests and causing some to leave early. Interpressnews reported that Tamaz Mchedlidze, founder of the Bioli Wellness Resort, raised the alarm on social media, describing repeated shooting around the property and suggesting ... Read more
TBILISI, November 4 – The corruption trial of Georgia’s jailed former prime minister Irakli Garibashvili has been closed to the public after prosecutors argued that testimony could reveal state secrets or other confidential information. Judge Tamar Mchedlishvili granted the prosecution’s request Monday as Tbilisi City Court began substantive hearings in the case, Interpressnews reported. Garibashvili ... Read more
TBILISI, November 3 – The testimony of a former official has strengthened the case of exiled former prime minister Giorgi Gakharia. Maia Tskitishvili, who was infrastructure and regional development minister at the time, testified Monday as a defense witness in the case over a Georgian police checkpoint established near the dividing line with Russian-backed South ... Read more
TBILISI, October 29 – More people convicted over Georgia’s protests are entering plea agreements with prosecutors. Some have already been released from prison and others are seeking similar deals. The latest agreements were approved Wednesday for Murtaz Zodelava, Lasha Beridze, Guri Zhvania and Irakli Chkhvirkia, all four sentenced in the ‘October 4′ case. All four ... Read more
TBILISI, October 29 – Georgia’s parliament has approved a new legal category for large international gambling tournaments, offering tax breaks to events with multimillion-lari prize funds and predominantly foreign participation. The rules will regulate live poker competitions, which bring players together for a series of elimination events over several days. Under the legislation, an international ... Read more
TBILISI, October 27 – Georgia’s Constitutional Court is continuing hearings on a lawsuit seeking to ban five opposition parties, with the case moving from procedural disputes into arguments over whether the groups acted together against the constitutional order. The case opened on October 21 before a seven-judge panel. It was filed by 88 members of ... Read more
TBILISI, October 17 – Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Armenia on Friday, discussing bilateral ties and tensions in the Middle East. The meeting drew criticism from U.S. Congressman Joe Wilson. The talks took place in Yerevan on the sidelines of COP17, the UN biodiversity conference. According to the Georgian ... Read more
TBILISI, October 13 – The mother of a Georgian prisoner who previously accused prison guards of rape is demanding his urgent transfer to another facility. Irma Davitadze said Tuesday that her son, Giorgi Davitadze, is in danger at Penitentiary Facility No. 6 in Rustavi, a city near the Georgian capital Tbilisi. In a social media ... Read more
TBILISI, October 13 – Georgian Constitutional Court judge Manana Kobakhidze has stepped down months before the end of her term, shortly after the court refused her request to withdraw from a lawsuit seeking to ban five opposition parties. The Constitutional Court said Tuesday that Kobakhidze’s powers as a judge were terminated early at her own ... Read more
TBILISI, October 12 – Georgia’s government has increased a planned pension rise for people under 70 from 20 lari to 45 lari, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced Monday. From January 1, the monthly pension for people under 70 will rise to 415 lari, except for pensioners living in high-mountain areas. The 2027 draft budget had ... Read more
TBILISI, October 12 – Georgia’s Constitutional Court has refused a judge’s request to step aside from a case seeking to ban five opposition parties. The judge asked to be recused due to past involvement with the ruling party, raising doubts about her impartiality. Judge Manana Kobakhidze asked to recuse herself on October 9. She said ... Read more
TBILISI, October 11 – Russia has suspended imports and sales of drinks from several major Georgian producers, including wine, beer, mineral water and Coca-Cola produced in Georgia, prompting a debate in Tbilisi over whether Moscow is applying political pressure. The restrictions took effect on October 9 under what the Russian authorities described as a temporary ... Read more
TBILISI, October 9 – Georgian prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into National Bank board member Nana Keinishvili over allegations that she was illegally involved in business activities, Interpressnews reported. The Prosecutor General’s Office said Friday that the case was opened under Article 337 of the Criminal Code, which covers unlawful participation in business by ... Read more
TBILISI, October 9 – Georgia’s Public Defender has rejected a claim by the lawyer of prisoner Giorgi Davitadze that an ombudsman representative advised him against undergoing a forensic examination. In a statement Friday, the Public Defender’s Office said the lawyer’s account was false and urged Davitadze’s side to stop spreading what it described as misinformation ... Read more
TBILISI, October 8 – Georgian prosecutors have charged a Georgian citizen accused of illegally acquiring and storing radioactive uranium that authorities say he planned to sell to a foreign national. According to Interpressnews, the Prosecutor’s Office said Wednesday that the suspect had been arrested following an investigation by the State Security Service’s counterintelligence department. According ... Read more
TBILISI, October 7 – Tbilisi plans to introduce yellow box markings at congested intersections in an effort to stop drivers from blocking traffic. Mayor Kakha Kaladze announced the plan at a city government meeting on Wednesday, saying the markings would be used at busy transport hubs where traffic lights alone have not solved problems with ... Read more
TBILISI, October 7 – Georgia’s State Security Service says it has arrested a Georgian citizen accused of trying to sell uranium-238 worth USD 700,000 to a foreign national. The story was reported by Interpressnews Wednesday and quoted the domestic intelligence agency SSS saying that the arrest followed a joint operation by its counterintelligence and special ... Read more
TBILISI, October 6 – Two opposition figures serving seven-year prison terms for the October 4, 2025 unrest in downtown Tbilisi have asked prosecutors for plea agreements. Murtaz Zodelava and Lasha Beridze raised the issue during a hearing in the Appeals Court on Monday. Another convicted defendant in the same case, Guri Zhvania, has also requested ... Read more
TBILISI, October 5 – Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze says growing outside pressure since 2022 pushed the government toward tougher measures in order to defend the country’s sovereignty, ultimately making Georgia more independent. Speaking on Imedi TV’s Open Air programme on Saturday, Kobakhidze said it had been much harder in earlier years to withstand outside ... Read more
TBILISI, October 4 – Georgian opera singer Paata Burchuladze, imprisoned over the events of October 4, 2025, has published a letter from prison marking one year since the protest that led to his arrest. In the letter, reported by Interpressnews, Burchuladze republishes the declaration adopted at what organizers called a “National Assembly” during the October ... Read more
TBILISI, October 2 – Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili marked 14 years of Georgian Dream rule by arguing that the country has gradually regained sovereignty and reduced foreign influence since the party came to power in 2012. Papuashvili said the nine years before Georgian Dream’s election victory were not only a period of what he ... Read more
TBILISI, October 2 – Georgia’s Communications Commission has fined Formula TV 10,000 lari after finding that its news programs violated legal requirements on fairness and impartiality, Interpressnews reported. The regulator said it monitored Formula’s 5 p.m. news broadcasts from September 14 to 16 and found cases where presenters and correspondents expressed personal opinions while covering ... Read more
