Revenue Service Seizes Bank Account of Batumelebi & Netgazeti Amid Pressure on Mzia Amaglobeli

The Revenue Service has seized Batumelebi/Netgazeti’s bank accounts. The official reason is outstanding tax debt. The real motive, however, appears to be an attempt to shut down the media organization. More than that – it is direct pressure on Mzia Amaglobeli to make her give up. In just a few days, Judge Nino Sakhelashvili is expected to deliver a verdict in the case against Mzia Amaglobeli, the founder of Gazeti Batumelebi (Batumelebi&Netgazeti).

What’s happening?

Recently, the Revenue Service contacted Gazeti Batumelebi and informed the organization that it has an outstanding tax debt that must be paid within five days. Otherwise, they warned, the accounts would be seized (via “incasso”), followed by property seizure and enforcement.

This means the National Bureau of Enforcement could begin selling off Gazeti Batumelebi’s assets – including technical equipment and its office.

As of now, Gazeti Batumelebi’s debt to the state budget consists of a principal amount of 47,000 GEL (down from 136,000 GEL earlier this month, after a partial payment), as well as an additional 126,000 GEL in accrued interest and 109,000 GEL in penalties.

Gazeti Batumelebi’s tax debt was officially acknowledged, and the organization had been paying it — alongside ongoing tax obligations — without any formally imposed payment schedule.

However, after receiving a call from the Revenue Service demanding full and immediate payment, we formally submitted three separate requests to schedule the debt repayment – as allowed under the Tax Code.

The first request proposed a three-year repayment period.
After it was denied, we submitted a second request for a 2.5-year period.
When that was also denied, we submitted a final request for a two-year schedule.

All three requests were rejected by the Revenue Service

Then, last Thursday, the Revenue Service went ahead and placed the seizure order on Gazeti Batumelebi’s accounts.

Today is July 21, and Mzia Amaglobeli’s penultimate court hearing is being held. The seizure – and the other actions planned for the coming days – appear aimed at breaking her personally and, ultimately, destroying the media organization she founded.

There is a telling example that highlights the selectivity of this pressure: according to the Revenue Service’s own official report from May 21, 2025, Georgian Dream propagandist TV company Imedi TV owes 17 million GEL in tax debt. TV Rustavi2 owes 25 million GEL to the state budget.

An excerpt from the document provided by the Revenue Service to BM.ge

The Ministry of Finance should never aim to suffocate or silence the media. Its stated mission should be to support the development of all businesses in order to generate revenue through fair taxation – and contribute to the growth of the state.

Especially when freedom of expression is one of the fundamental pillars of any democratic state – and to eliminate it is, in effect, to dismantle the state itself.

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