President Saakashvili's letter to Mr Davit Akubardia, founder of the Kavkasia TV company

8/15/2007

Mr Akubardia,

One of the fundamental bases of the existence of our country is the freedom of speech, and accordingly, the freedom of the media. Our country's constitution and legislation protect and guarantee these values. Thanks to the laws adopted over the past three years, Georgia now occupies a spot among the world's leading countries in terms of ensuring media freedoms through legislation.

At the same time, Georgia is at a stage where it is making great advancements economically. There is no alternative to the development of the private sector and the successful implementation of the ongoing privatization process. We are attracting investments and additional capital in order to achieve economic growth and create new jobs.

It is unfortunate that as a result of these processes, which are completely lawful and justified from the standpoint of developing our country's economy, your television station has been left without an office, which in turn has interrupted your broadcasts. Therefore, we have decided to allot a sum from the presidential reserve fund to cover rent payments for the next six months at your new office so that you can resume broadcasting according to your previous schedule as quickly as possible.

I hope that this decision will allow you to continue your activities uninterrupted and resume programming for your viewers.

I wish you success

Mikheil Saakashvili



press Office
of the President of Georgia