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Ex Georgian Minister Makes New Claims
The Kavkasia television channel aired a new interview with former Georgian defense minister Irakly Okruashvili yesterday in which he made new accusations against Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. According to the former minister, Saakashvili has obtained large packages of stock in Georgia's leading companies under false names. Those companies allegedly include the cellular provider Geocell and Rustavi 2 television. According to the Georgian opposition television channel, the interview, which lasted nearly an hour. took place on March 1 in Paris, where Okruashvili is being considered for political asylum.
Geocell occupies 45-50 percent of the Georgian market was founded by Fintur Holdings, which is controlled by the Finnish-Swedish TeliaSonera and the Turkish TurkCell. TeliaSonera spokesmen announced at the end of January that they had increased that company's share in Geocell to 97 percent. The remaining 3 percent of the company, which theoretically could belong to Saakashvili, is worth $7 million.
The pro-government Rustavi 2 television company, according to official data from the end of last year, belongs to the Georgian Industrial Group (55%) and the Geo Media Group. Media reports say that the Georgian Industrial Group is controlled by Georgian parliament member David Bezhuashvili. The owners of the Geo Media Group are unknown. It is registered on the Maldives Islands.
In addition, Okruashvili claimed that the Ukrainian Orange Revolution was financed by Georgian billionaire Bidzina (Boris) Ivanashvili, funneling hundreds of million of dollars of his estimated $5.2-billion fortune through the Georgian president and his close advisors. He said that the Georgian president is a passionate collector and has a collection of clocks worth $3 million.
Observers expect Okruashvili to become the leader of the opposition Movement for a United Georgia in time for the May parliamentary elections in that country. He is accused of corruption by the government.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Mar. 07, 2008
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