Aleksandre Ratishvili, director of MBC Georgia and a prominent Georgian businessman, has strongly criticized the recent imprisonment of Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, calling their 8-month sentences for failing to appear before a parliamentary investigative commission “unbelievably unacceptable and incomprehensible.”
Speaking during an appearance on BMGTV, Ratishvili expressed both personal and professional support for the two former bankers-turned-politicians, emphasizing their lasting impact on the Georgian economy.
“This story is very difficult for me, because I have both friendly and business relations with Mamuka and Badri,” Ratishvili said. “These two people made a huge contribution to the Georgian economy, and their imprisonment is absolutely unacceptable. I cannot justify it, and we cannot accept it.”
Ratishvili stressed that, while Khazaradze and Japaridze are now political figures, their past contributions as businessmen must not be ignored.
“They brought in countless foreign and local investments, launched successful companies, created jobs, and filled the state budget with significant funds. These achievements matter.”
He noted that their sentencing sends a deeply damaging signal to both the international community and potential investors.
“This is a very bad message for the international community and for business circles. If such a thing is possible in Georgia - where justice and judicial independence are already in question, why would any foreign investor risk their capital here?”
The businessman warned that this case could further destabilize Georgia’s business climate, already strained by political tensions and legal uncertainty.
“We cannot talk about economic development or a healthy business climate when people who have built up this country’s economy are being sent to prison for something like this. There are other legal measures—fines, warnings—but 8 months of imprisonment? That’s incomprehensible.”
Ratishvili also called on the wider business community to find its voice amid growing instability.
“If business remains silent, it’s complicit. The arrest of Mamuka and Badri might awaken some now, and hopefully, in the coming days more business leaders will speak up. These two helped create many of the companies thriving today.”
He concluded by questioning the government’s motives in maintaining what he described as a deliberately unstable environment:
“I don’t understand what benefit the government sees in keeping the country in this unstable state. Georgia needs peace and stability, not high-profile imprisonments that undermine everything we’ve built.”
