Erosi Kitsmarishvili (Georgian: ეროსი კიწმარიშვილი) is a Georgian media executive and the ex-Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the Russian Federation in 2008.[1]
Prior to accepting the ambassadorial post, Kitsmarishvili owned the Rustavi 2 television broadcasting company, which played a key role during the Rose Revolution of 2003. Since his dismissal in mid-September by Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, he has publicly criticized Saakashvili's handling of the August 2008 war with Russia over the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia[2] — claiming that although Russia had provoked the conflict, the actual fighting had been started by Georgia,[3][4] and that the United States had approved the Georgian government's plans to retake Abkhazia in early 2008.[5][6] Kitsmarishvili has also spoken out in favour of increased pluralism in the Georgian media.[7] In November 2009, Kitsmarishvili took over the management rights of the Tbilisi-based pro-opposition television station Maestro TV.[8]