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Thursday,
August 9,
2007, #151 (1418)
By Ana Datiashvili By some counts, nearly 200 police ringed the entrances to two businesses on central Tbilisi's Rustaveli Avenue the morning of August 7. Staff members arriving for work were anxious and confused. "They don't let us in, and nobody is saying anything. We can't find anyone who will tell us what's going on," Robert Maisuradze, the manager of Sony Centre, told journalists that morning. They were being evicted. Throughout the morning, police carted out stock from Sony Center and Cafe Rustaveli, both located at Rustaveli 30. By the end of the day, the two central town fixtures were closed and shuttered. The Ministry of Economic Development is responsible. Mzia Kakabadze owned the property, which she leased to the businesses. Recently, she handed the grounds over to the government in exchange for an adjacent commercial block, making the Economist Ministry Development the new landlord of Rustaveli 30. They have plans to turn the entire building into a Hilton hotel, displacing three businesses and the Ministry of Justice. The ministry said their lease was up as of August, giving the electronics shop and up-scale cafeteria a few days' notice to clear the premises. Deputy Minister of Economic Development Davit Natroshvili announced the businesses were offered alternative property, in the adjacent building which the government gave to Kakabadze. "Instead of 820 square meters, we offer these people 1200 square meters next to their old building," said Natroshvili the same day. Sony Center's lawyer,
Soso Baratashvili, denied there was any agreement in the works. This isn't the first time the government warned of an impending eviction for the businesses at Rustaveli Avenue 30. Several months ago, Economic Development Minster Giorgi Arveladze announced that the shops had to go. "This is not their property any more. This is the state's property. We've talked about this with Sony and Rustaveli Cafe, and it's time to vacate this property," Arveladze said. The two businesses announced they would file suit against the Ministry of Economic Development, taking their case to both domestic and international courts. They still had time left on their leases, Baratashvili claimed. Sony Center management
said a representative from the company's international headquarters
would come to Tbilisi August 20 to petition their case. |
Rustaveli
Avenue businesses kicked out by Ministry of Economic Development
