According to legislation, the Communications Commission is a regulatory body of the telecommunications sector that is independent from all the branches of the government. Its function is to protect the rights of consumers in this sector and to serve as an independent arbiter that is free from political influences and sympathies. However, questions have been raised over the years about the activities of the Communications Commission and its members regarding their decisions that were beneficial for the authorities and a number of disputed initiatives aimed at restricting critical opinion in the country.

This has become even more conspicuous in the pre-election period. On August 27, the election campaign for Georgia’s crucial parliamentary election officially began, and broadcasters became obligated to air political advertisements free of charge. During the two-month period, the Communications Commission has already satisfied several complaints of the ruling Georgian Dream party and issued questionable offence reports against TV stations critical to the authorities for refusing to air unethical election advertisements, on the basis of which the court imposed fines [1] on them. The activities of the Communications Commission were also evaluated negatively by the Media Ombudsman in an interim report [2] published on October 5, which emphasizes that the Commission, together with the court, has become “an accomplice in once again punishing critical media outlets in the election period”. The use of photos depicting the war started by Russia in Ukraine by Georgian Dream for election purposes was also condemned by the European Parliament in the resolution [3] adopted on October 9.

Granted, the Communications Commission also issued several offence reports against pro-government broadcasters in the pre-election period, although, overall, this cannot balance the irreversible damage that critical TV stations and the pre-election environment in general have already sustained due to the Communications Commission’s decisions. 

Despite the fact that the Communications Commission is a collegial body, its members are loyal to the authorities and, as a rule, the decisions are also made unanimously. Thus, it is important to inform the public about who the commission members are and what we know about them, as they are often used by the authorities as a punitive tool against critical media.

•  Kakhi Bekauri – Chairperson of the Commission

Kakhi Bekauri [4] has been the Chairperson of the Communications Commission since 2017. In a competition held in 2023, where he was the only candidate [5], Bekauri was elected to this position for a third term [6]. Prior to that, in the years 2014-2017, he was a member of the Commission. Bekauri holds a diploma in cybernetics and applied mathematics and, accordingly, does not meet the qualification requirements established by law for this position. TI Georgia wrote [7] about this as early as in 2017, when he was elected to the Chairperson’s position for the first time.

Prior to being elected as a member of the Communications Commission, Bekauri was the director of Channel 9 TV station owned by the family of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the honorary chairperson of Georgian Dream and the former Prime Minister. Bekauri’s spouse, Ekaterine Beridze [8], was also a political talk show host at the same channel. Beridze was also involved in projects [9] organized by the Media Academy of the Communications Commission. Prior to that, Bekauri had held leadership positions in various TV stations for several years, including the Public Broadcaster.

During Bekauri’s time as a member and Chairperson of the Communications Commission, the Commission has been criticized on several occasions for bias toward the authorities, questionable decisions against critical TV stations and imposition of significant fines on them. For example, in the years 2021 [10] and 2022 [11], the Communications Commission imposed record fines of over GEL 100,000 on the Mtavari Arkhi TV station. Bekauri actively lobbied for initiatives aimed at increasing regulation of the media market. For example, the Venice Commission harshly criticized Bekauri’s initiative of appointing special temporary managers in TV stations. During Bekauri’s time as the Chairperson, telecommunications operators active in Georgia also accused [12] the Communications Commission of “incompetence” and “falsehood”. 

In October last year, the powers of the Communications Commission expanded even further after the Parliament considered and adopted [13] – in an accelerated manner and without a broad public discussion – changes to the Law on  Broadcasting proposed by members of the parliamentary majority, which, together with other novelties, provide for the transfer of hate speech and obscenity from the realm of self-regulation to that of regulation.

Bekauri is one of the highest-paid public officers in Georgia. According to his asset declarations, he has received a total remuneration of hundreds of thousands of lari since 2014. For example, in 2023 alone, the annual salary [14] of the Chairperson of the Communications Commission amounted to GEL 202,632.

Kakhi Bekauri is also one of the richest public officers. During his time in office, his property was increasing significantly and became worth millions of lari. He holds stakes and shares in a number of companies, including the Ori Nabiji network of supermarkets, from which he received [15] a dividend of GEL 18 million last year. It is noteworthy that he has continued to break the law for years, as he manages his assets himself, which is incompatible with the position he holds.

The assets of the Chairperson of the Communications Commission have attracted media interest on more than one occasion. For example, in 2020, a news item [16] by the Formula TV station that dealt with Kakhi Bekauri’s “growing property” noted that Bekauri had paid 10 tetri per square meter of land in the Akhmeta Municipality in Kakheti (50,000 square meters in total). Kakhi Bekauri was also included [17] in a news item on “rich officials” prepared by the Formula TV station in 2024. At the beginning of this year, the Magticom company also sent a letter [18] to the Anti-Corruption Bureau in connection with a possible violation of the requirements of the Law on the Fight against Corruption by the Chairperson of the Communications Commission. At the same time, Kakhi Bekauri was included in studies [19] by TI Georgia due to incomplete declaration [20] of assets.

Vakhtang Abashidze – Member of the Commission

A journalist by trade, Vakhtang Abashidze [21] has been a member of the Communications Commission since 2017. Prior to that, in the years 2014-2017, he was the Chairperson of the Communications Commission. Vakhtang Abashidze was also in charge of the Communications Commission in the years 2000-2004. In the past, he has experience working in government, the private sector and the media. Among the positions he held, Vakhtang Abashidze served as the Head of the Press Service for President Eduard Shevardnadze from 1995 to 2000.

According to his asset declaration [22], Vakhtang Abashidze holds a 50% stake in Optima Management LLC, a 34% stake in We and Our Children LLC, a 30% stake in Degaprint+ LLC, and a 10% stake in Zurab Tkeshelashvili Traumatology and Orthopedics Center LLC. Similarly to Kakhi Bekauri, TI Georgia has also discovered flaws in the asset declaration [19] of Vakhtang Abashidze. For example, in 2017, he failed to disclose that he held a 34% stake in a company. He also failed to include full information about the entrepreneurial activities of his family members.

It is noteworthy that Vakhtang Abashidze’s brother, Zurab Abashidze [23], served as Georgia’s Ambassador to Russia in the years 2000-2004. In 2012, Bidzina Ivanishvili appointed [24] him as the special representative of the Georgian government for relations with Russia. Abashidze was directly accountable to the Prime Minister. He held this position until March 2024. After that, he was appointed [25] as an advisor to the Prime Minister.

•  Natia Kukuladze – Member of the Commission  

 Natia Kukuladze [26] has been a member of the Communications Commission since 2021. Prior to that, in the years 2019-2021, she was the Head of the Media Literacy Development Department of the Communications Commission. Kukuladze holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA).    

 Under the Georgian Dream government, in the years 2012-2019, Natia Kukuladze served in various positions in the public sector. Among the positions she held, she served as the Head of the Coordination Office of the Public Relations Department of the Government Administration of Georgia in 2014-2016.

Natia Kukuladze was also included in TI Georgia’s study due to incomplete asset declarations. In particular, in the declarations [27] filled out in 2022-2023, Natia Kukuladze failed to disclose the income received from her position, her real estate, and information about the entrepreneurial activities of his spouse. Later, Natia Kukuladze explained [28] that this had been a “technical misunderstanding” that had since been resolved.  

• Ekaterine Imedadze – Member of the Commission 

Ekaterine Imadadze [29] was elected as a member of the Communications Commission in 2021. Prior to that, in 2019-2021, she was the Head of the Telecom Market Regulation Department of the Communications Commission. For over 10 years, she worked in various positions at the VEON Georgia (Beeline) company. Before that, she worked in the field of finance in various private companies. Ekaterine Imedadze holds master’s degrees in physics and business administration from Tbilisi State University and Bradford University, respectively.  

•  Ivane Makharadze – Member of the Commission 

Ivane Makharadze [30], who holds a Master’s degree in European Law and Media Law from Europa-Institute in Saarbrücken, has been a member of the Communications Commission since 2021. Prior to that, in the years 2013-2021, he was the Head of the Audio-Visual Media Services Department/Broadcasting Regulation Department of the Communications Commission. Still earlier, in 2007-2013, Ivane Makharadze worked in the positions of specialist, leading specialist and chief specialist at the Broadcasting Regulation Department of the Communications Commission.

It is noteworthy that, prior to being elected as a member of the Commission, Ivane Makharadze’s Department, along with other members of the Commission, actively supported a number of disputed proposals and interpretations of legislation prepared by the Communications Commission. These dealt with the regulation of hate speech and initiation of disputes on questionable grounds against critical broadcasters for airing obscene material.