Berezovskiy may take possession of the Georgian “Hope”

The long-suffering Imedi (Hope) TV channel is the center of attention again. Recently, Court of London delivered an expert report confirming the fact that Badri Patarkatsishvili's will was composed after his death. As GeorgiaTimes correspondent found out, it does not mean that the media assets are now going to pass to the family of the decedent and that the channel will again become the voice of the opposition. It is Boris Berezovskiy who might become the new owner of the Georgian Hope.

The day before, informational agencies vied in reporting the proven forgery of the will of the disgraced businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili who duly died in February 2008 in London.

Lasha Birkaya, attorney of Patarkatsishvili's family has recently held a press-conference in Tbilisi where he stated the following: "The expertise confirmed that the documents, particularly, the will and the testamentary executor appointment act were composed after the death of Badri Patarkatsishvili".

Accordingly, it turns out that the Imedi TV channel, which has been the subject of so many discussions and legal proceedings, may become the property of Patarkatsishvili's wife Inna Gudavadze in the nearest future. This is what the Georgian opposition is standing for as well, for after Patarkatsishvili's death it was deprived of such powerful media support as the Imedi channel. The opposition held several meetings demanding the return of the channel to Inna Gudavadze who promised to make it independent once again.

However, it turned out that there is no reason for the Georgian opposition to rejoice so far. There is no doubt that the division of Patarkatsishvili's property is a political affair that combines the interests of many high and mighties; thus, it contains a lot of "buts" and neither high-powered attorneys, nor well-known lawyers, nor even the impartial jurisdiction of London is able to dot the i's here.

Well, that is the way the story goes. The Imedi TV channel no longer belongs to Joseph Kay who managed to snatch the right to dispose of Patarkatsishvili's disputable property. Joseph Kay is the tycoon's step-brother, a citizen of the USA, who had been just Joseph Kakalashvili before. After Patarkatsishvili's death he turned up all of a sudden and presented the disputable will that triggered endless legal proceedings.

Eventually, Kay did not become the owner but was given the right to dispose of the late tycoon's assets. As the lawyers say, this complicated juridical hassle cannot be cleared up even by legal advisers. So far, Patarkatsishvili's family is unsuccessfully disputing the court's decision.

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