Rustavi 2

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Rustavi 2 (in Georgian: რუსთავი 2) is a popular private TV Company in Georgia.

Rustavi 2 (R2) is a privately owned free to air terrestrial broadcaster that currently reaches around 84% of the country's population. The area Rustavi 2 covers outside Georgia via satellite 24-hour broadcasting includes Europe, European part of Russia and the Middle East.

It was formed in 1994 and had been in a strong opposition to Eduard Shevardnadze’s government since then. The Georgian authorities made several attempts to shut R2 down.

Original owners of Rustavi 2 were Erosi Kitsmarishvili, David Dvali, Dsharchi Akimidze and Nika Tabatadze. From July 2004 to December 2005 the Adjarian businessman Kibar Khalvashi owned 90 %. He was non-political but close to the government, had close ties to the former minister of defence Irakli Okruashvili who was his lawyer for many years. On January 4, 2006 David Bezuashvili - a brother of Georgia's foreign minister - bought 22 % of the Rustavi 2 shares. In summer 2006 Khalvashi sold his shares to the company GeoTrans, Beshuashvili sold to Georgia's Industrial Group. Until the beginning of 2007 Rustavi 2, the television company Mze TV and radio station 1st Stereo will merge into a holding. ^[1]

Giorgi Sanaia, Georgia’s most popular TV journalist, who worked at R2, was murdered in July 2001. It has been considered by many as a political murder related with his programme “Night Courier” and investigations of allegations of official corruption. In October, 2001 the security police raid on R2 office resulted in public anger and subsequent mass street demonstrations against the government’s pressure on independent media forced Eduard Shevardnadze to fire his entire cabinet. Rustavi 2 was the main mass media source used as a tribune by the opposition leaders during the Rose Revolution in November 2003.