“Let’s Exchange Wallets, Brother”, or Who Fills in the Purse of Real.TV

Saba Tsitsikashvili, Gori

“Let’s exchange our wallets, my brother,” journalist of the TV-Company “Real-TV” Giorgi Kapanadze offered journalist Aleko Elisashvili in the program of Natia Gamtsemlidze “Profession Journalist” on Maestro-TV. The program was transmitted on February 11. But on February 12, after hard effort we got hold of the document which proved that one of the sources for the budget of Real.TV is Shida Kartli region governor Lado Vardzelashvili.

According to the agreement signed on January 4, 2010 the employer is state attorney in Gori, Kaspi, Kareli and Khashuri districts – regional governor Lado Vardzelashvili; the employee is Giorgi Kapanadze, resident of Digomi massive, Block III, App. 35 in Tbilisi.

Labor agreement between Vardzelashvili and Kapanadze is equal to documents signed with public servants and officials.

Context of the agreement – story of the employed journalist

1. “Employee” (Giorgi Kapanadze) shall comply with the requirements of the resolution # 406 by State Attorney-Regional governor issued on June 27, 2007. More precisely:
1.1 Creation of informational online website where activities of the administration of state attorney-regional governor will be published. More precisely:
1.1.1. Interviews, statements and video-recordings of the state attorney-regional governor shall be posted on the website.
1.1.2. Information about all projects implementing or planned in Shida Kartli region shall be posted on the website.
1.2 Resolution of the state attorney-regional governor envisages other duties and responsibilities too.
2. The employee is entitled to report or notify on the implemented work under order of the employer.
3. Employee is accountable and responsible to the employer;
4. Employee is entitled to obey the rules of the administration of state attorney-regional governor. He is also entitled to implement his responsibilities in accordance to the General Administrative Code of Georgia and other corresponding laws.
5. Employer is entitled to create all convenient environment for the employee and pay salary of 1 180 GEL at the end of each month.
6. The employer is entitled to act in accordance to the Law of Georgia on Public Service and Labor Code.
7. The agreement is in force after it is signed before March 31, 2010.
8. Conditions of the agreement can be changed based on the agreement of both sides.
9. Agreement can be ceased based on the initiative of one of the sides under the law; the side informs the second side about it one month before.
10. The agreement is prepared in two copies and both have equal legal power; one of them is assigned to the employee.

Hard Way to Get Documents …

On January 15, 2010 we applied to the Shida Kartli regional administration with the following official letter. “We kindly request you to provide the following information to us: list of personnel at the Shida-Kartli regional administration as well as the information about their monthly salaries. When delivering the information please introduce the labor agreements and CVs of the personnel on the place.”

Head of administration Zurab Lomidze registered the letter 3 days later on January 18 for what we could not get information on time.

I visited the Shida Kartli regional administration on January 22, 2010 to get the information. I had warned Zurab Lomidze about my visit in advance. Entering the building security policemen followed me. They kicked me out of the building. On the same day, the author of the article was pushed down the stairs by cursing and insulting. On January 22, we could not get public information at the regional administration.

After that, on January 28, I applied to the regional administration again and received replies from them. In the reply there was list and salaries of personnel of the regional administration; the letter was enclosed by a list of 18 people.

With the support of these documents I found out that 45 working places are created at the regional administration for 2010. However, Zurab Lomidze handed the list of only 18 people.

On February 2, 2010 I visited the regional administration to see the labor agreements with the employees but Zurab Lomidze told me he got nervous at my sight and could not assist me. He opened the door of his office and ordered me to leave the room.

On February 12, we visited the regional administration again. This time, I could not get the permit. Head of chancellery Zurab Lomidze was not in office at 11:00 am. Other employees could not give permit to me. I called lawyer of the regional governor Giorgi Tsabadze who told me if I wanted to leave the letter, I had to bring new application ready and printed; they could not allow me to write the application in the administration. I explained to him that I had sent the application long time before and I wanted to see the labor agreements.

The lawyer replied to me that Zurab Lomidze had locked the information in his safe. I called Lomidze. I told him what the lawyer had said but he said he had not kept anything locked in the safe. Just the opposite, Giorgi Tsabadze was in charge of my application and I had to apply to him. Finally, the lawyer and the head of chancellery agreed to give a permit to me.

Giorgi Tsabadze showed me the labor agreements with 4 employees which were signed since January 4, 2010. We discovered the labor agreement with Giorgi Kapanadze among those contracts.  

Meanwhile, Zurab Lomidze arrived at the office. We asked him to give copies of the 4 agreements. “You’d rather copy them out,” he said. I asked him empty papers; I wrote new application to Lomidze and requested copies of 4 labor agreements. At the end of the letter I wrote that I would bring receipts of the payment for the copies from the bank on the same day. Surprisingly, the head of the chancellery did not want to register my application. I was explaining to him for one and half hour that he did not have right to refuse me; but he claimed I could consider that it was registered.

In the afternoon, at 4:00 pm I visited the regional administration to get the requested information and provided the receipt on payment of 20 tetri to the bank for the copies. I could not find Lomidze in the office; one of the specialists told me my application was not registered yet.
 
At 4:10 pm I called Lomidze who said he was in Tbilisi and I could not get any information from the chancellery without him. The working day finishes at 6:00 pm.

At 4:20 pm I called representative of the public defender in Shida Kartli region Nino Dalakishvili and asked her to come to the regional administration; she personally witnessed unregistered application and called regional governor Vardzelashvili. “Good day, Lado, do you know what is going on here? They do not register the application of the journalist Saba Tsitsikashvili in the chancellery and please settle this problem… I am here in your chancellery,” representative of the public defender informed the regional governor about my problem. Representative of the local NGO Arina Tavakarashvili attended all these procedures.

The regional governor came to the chancellery and told the specialist: “Register this application,” and then he told me. “If I apply to your office and request source of finances for your newspaper will you inform me?” I agreed. I hope the regional governor knows what the difference between the public and private companies is.

Based on the governor’s resolution the chancellery registered my application on the information about the correspondent of Real-TV at 4:40 pm. However, the problem was execution of the order. Nino Dalakishvili could not request them to execute the order immediately because she was suggested from the Tbilisi office of the public defender that public agency had 10 days to answer to my application.

Here I had to fight for my application again. The working day was finishing and that night I was leaving for Poland for the meeting of regional journalists. I doubted within one week Vardzelashvili could change the agreement with Giorgi Kapanadze. Thus, I was determined to get the copy of the agreement immediately.

I called the lawyer of the Young Lawyers Association Tamar Gurchiani and informed her about the situation. She said I had full right to get the information from the public agency immediately. Public agency also had right to use reasonable time to release the information immediately. This reasonable time should be period that is necessary for making the copy of the document. I told Gurchiani the document was already found and I had also seen it. It was on the table of the head of chancellery. Tamar Gurchiani confirmed that if the public agency uses reasonable term and I can confirm it, I had right to get the document immediately.

I called the representative of the public defender’s office Zurab Sanikidze, who worked on the freedom of information, and informed him about the situation. I told him the regional governor and his administration tried to prolong the reasonable period for issuing the information and requested him to react on the fact. More precisely, I asked him to request explanations from every person who breached the articles of the Chapter 3 of the General Administrative Code. I also asked him to request explanation from the regional government why he considered his resolution more important than the Administrative Code. I told Zurab Sanikidze that their representative Nino Dalakishvili had witnessed the incident.

Soon, Zurab Lomidze called me on the phone and rebuked me for causing noise because of the requested information. He said he was delayed because of slippery road from Tbilisi to Gori and he could arrive at the office at 6:00 pm. I told him they finish working day at that time but he calmed me down their working day lasted before 7:00 pm. Indeed, Lomidze arrived at the chancellery at 6:00 pm and asked me to clarify why I liked to start similar noise about simple problems. It took him only 5 minutes to prepare written reply and to hand copy of the agreement. At 6:20 pm I already had the agreement between Vardzelashvili and Giorgi Kapanadze.

Initially I published the document on the Facebook and it caused serious interest. Most of all Zurab Lomidze was irritated by publishing the article. He wrote to my personal email: “Have you completely lost dignity?”

Why Exactly Giorgi Kapanadze?

Reportedly, former head of the press-center at the MIA Guram Donadze is the head of the TV-Company “Real-TV”. Consequently, the journalists working for this company are close to Donadze and officials of MIA. The TV-Company prepares discrediting telecasts about representatives of the opposition parties and people opposing the government. Giorgi Kapanadze is discussing printed media in Real-TV. He mostly discusses articles of the online newspaper “droni.ge”. The latter is pro-governmental website.

Comment of Giorgi Kapanadze: “I think, we must be bored with catching storm in a glass of water… I am editor-in-chief of Media Holding Droni.ge. Our company cooperates with many business-companies and state institutions (Telekom, “Aversi”, Nikora,…). We have advertising agency, publishing house and design-studio. As for this agreement, it is individual agreement and I am entitled to work for the design of the website. If any of you wants to sign the same agreement with me or Droni.ge I will do the same… So, let us finis about it, ok? Have we resolved all other problems? It is ordinary practice. For example, short time ago Vakho Sanaia was PR manager of Tbilisi State University and simultaneously he was journalist of the Imedi-TV. I do not want to bring other examples. However I can say one more thing. Many journalists from the so-called opposition media (I do not like similar differentiation) have similar agreements signed with various companies and state institutions. And one more: I am not journalist for Real-TV but editor-in-chief of Droni.ge. I am presenter of this program. As for the agreement, every news agency or their representatives have signed similar agreements with various companies or state institutions. You can check it.”

We have been requesting information about funds Vardzelashvili spends on his PR-campaign for a long time but the regional governor has not signed any labor agreements with any of the news agencies for a long time unlike Giorgi Kapanadze.

Although Kapanadze claims other journalists also sign similar agreements with companies; the point is that budget of private companies is different from state budget. In fact, based on the agreement, Giorgi Kapanadze gets the salary equal to the head of administrations -  1 180 GEL. Zurab Lomidze has the same salary, as well as head of economic department Giorgi Makhniashvili, head of supervision department Malkhaz Miruashvili, etc. as for the spokesperson of the regional administration Natia Omiadze has half of their salary – 590 GEL.