Who Owned Georgia English.pdf
Who Owned Georgia English.pdf Who Owned Georgia English.pdf
merger of the Caucasus Network, Georgia Online and SaNet. Ithas the highest shares of the optical fiber market (76% 119 ).Georgia’s total revenues from the internet in 2010 was 80.2million GEL. Of this, Silknet earned 25.9 million GEL in the 10months it operated 2010, according to the GNCC 120 . CaucasusOnline earned 32.1 million GEL for the full year. The remainingrevenues were divided between 28 smaller providers. TheGNCC’s 2011 report does not include a separate breakdown ofretail revenues by each provider. 121As for Georgia’s mobile telecommunications market, it islargely shared by three companies. According to 2011 data fromthe GNCC, Geocell is the current market leader with 41.7% ofthe market shares (1,765,000 subscribers), then Magticom with37.9% (1,604,000 subscribers) and Mobitel with 20.4% (611,000subscribers). Silknet entered the mobile telecommunicationsmarket in December, 2011 and managed to register 1,782subscribers by the end of the year. 122Georgia’s total retail revenues from mobile networks actuallywent down from 532 million GEL in 2010 to 441 million GEL in2011 (excluding value added tax and excise tax). According toGNCC’s 2010 data, Geocell’s retail revenues amounted to 245.2million GEL, while Magticom’s total retail revenues in 2010stood at 227.6 million GEL and Mobitel’s was 58.8 million GEL. 123It is relatively easy to get general information and statisticsabout Georgia’s major internet and mobile telecommunicationscompanies, however, it’s quite tricky to obtain data on who theirreal and/or beneficial owners are. For example, the public registryhas no information about Silknet’s current owners. Data from 24119 GNCC Yearly Report 2011 in Georgian, p. 51 http://www.gncc.ge/files/3100_2949_314871_1.pdf Accessed 05/12/2012120 GNCC Yearly Report 2011 in Georgian, p. 47 http://www.gncc.ge/files/3100_2949_473760_Annual%20report%202010.pdf Accessed 05/12/2012121 Ibid122 Ibid123 Ibid32
May 2010 indicates that Silknet was fully owned by RavenscarInvestments Limited, a company registered in the British VirginIslands (BVI) 124 which is an offshore haven for tax evasion andcorporate anonymity. On 2 June 2010, Silknet reorganized andchanged its status from a limited liability company to a jointstock company (JSC), which means it doesn’t have to reveal itsshareholders. So if somebody says, “Vano (ex-Prime MinisterMerabishvili) owns Silknet,” they could actually be right.What we do know about Silknet is that the Silk Road Group(SRG) is a shareholder, 125 although because Silknet is a JSC, wedon’t know how much they own. We know the Silk Road Groupis mainly Giorgi Ramishvili 126 , Alexei Topuria and a Germannamed David Franz Borger, who has been a member of Silknet’ssupervisory board since 2010. Ramishvili (aka “Zarala”) is perhapsbest known for his recent collaboration with Donald Trump.In 2010, the two signed a deal to establish a Trump Tower inBatumi 127 . Topuria is a board member of the SRG and responsiblefor its transportation business. 128The Silk Road Group goes back to the turbulent 1990s, wherefollowing the collapse of the Soviet Union, Giorgi Ramishvili setup a little company to transport random goods across the region.Today the Silk Road Group is the leading oil, fuel transport andtrading operator in Central Asia, with businesses interests intrading, real estate, banking and telecommunications.124 Public Registry. Ministry of Justice of Georgia. 20/05/2010 https://enreg.reestri.gov.ge/main.php?c=mortgage&m=get_output_by_id&scandoc_id=61473&app_id=70695 Accessed on 05/12/2012125 Silk Road Group S.A website http://www.silkroadgroup.net/other.php?lang=en Accessed 12/09/2012126 President cut the ribbon at Radisson Blu Hotel, Batumi http://www.silkroadgroup.net/news.php?lang=en&content=30 Accessed 05/12/2012127 Silk Road Group Announces Visit from Donald Trump http://www.silkroadgroup.net/news.php?lang=en&content=38 Accessed 05/12/2012128 SRG helps moving containers from Iraq to Afghanistan http://www.silkroadgroup.net/news.php?lang=&content=21 Accessed 05/12/201233
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- Page 16 and 17: Kakhi Beqauri and Eldar Mdinaradze.
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merger of the Caucasus Network, <strong>Georgia</strong> Online and SaNet. Ithas the highest shares of the optical fiber market (76% 119 ).<strong>Georgia</strong>’s total revenues from the internet in 2010 was 80.2million GEL. Of this, Silknet earned 25.9 million GEL in the 10months it operated 2010, according to the GNCC 120 . CaucasusOnline earned 32.1 million GEL for the full year. The remainingrevenues were divided between 28 smaller providers. TheGNCC’s 2011 report does not include a separate breakdown ofretail revenues by each provider. 121As for <strong>Georgia</strong>’s mobile telecommunications market, it islargely shared by three companies. According to 2011 data fromthe GNCC, Geocell is the current market leader with 41.7% ofthe market shares (1,765,000 subscribers), then Magticom with37.9% (1,604,000 subscribers) and Mobitel with 20.4% (611,000subscribers). Silknet entered the mobile telecommunicationsmarket in December, 2011 and managed to register 1,782subscribers by the end of the year. 122<strong>Georgia</strong>’s total retail revenues from mobile networks actuallywent down from 532 million GEL in 2010 to 441 million GEL in2011 (excluding value added tax and excise tax). According toGNCC’s 2010 data, Geocell’s retail revenues amounted to 245.2million GEL, while Magticom’s total retail revenues in 2010stood at 227.6 million GEL and Mobitel’s was 58.8 million GEL. 123It is relatively easy to get general information and statisticsabout <strong>Georgia</strong>’s major internet and mobile telecommunicationscompanies, however, it’s quite tricky to obtain data on who theirreal and/or beneficial owners are. For example, the public registryhas no information about Silknet’s current owners. Data from 24119 GNCC Yearly Report 2011 in <strong>Georgia</strong>n, p. 51 http://www.gncc.ge/files/3100_2949_314871_1.<strong>pdf</strong> Accessed 05/12/2012120 GNCC Yearly Report 2011 in <strong>Georgia</strong>n, p. 47 http://www.gncc.ge/files/3100_2949_473760_Annual%20report%202010.<strong>pdf</strong> Accessed 05/12/2012121 Ibid122 Ibid123 Ibid32
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