Zaza Okuashvili
ზაზა ოქუაშვილი (Georgian)
Personal details
Born (1963-05-31) 31 May 1963
Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union
NationalityBritish
Alma materTbilisi State Medical University
OccupationBusinessman

Zaza Okuashvili (Georgian: ზაზა ოქუაშვილი;, born 31 May 1963 in Tbilisi), is a UK Citizen and businessman. Founder and owner of the Omega Group[1] of companies and the national television station, Iberia. He has the Reserve military rank of Major.

Early life

Okuashvili was born and raised in Tbilisi’s Vera district, his father an engineer and his mother a doctor. After schooling at Tbilisi Public School no. 55, he graduated from Tbilisi State Medical University in 1989 and went on to practice anaesthesia and emergency care at Tbilisi’s Republican Hospital and the Khashuri Regional Hospital.

Business life

In 1991, he founded Omega group, one of the largest employers in the country and the largest taxpayer. It comprises Omega Motors (representing BMW,[2] Mini, Iveco, Opel, Chevrolet, Maserati[3] and Bentley[4]); OGT[5] (cigarette manufacturing, developed from partnerships with Philip Morris, Rothmans and R.J.Reynolds); and Omega Tegi (printing house, in partnership with Heidelberg). To date, the group have generated revenues for the Georgian budget a little under USD 900,000,000. Okuashvili has also developed significant media enterprises. The flagship is Iberia Television, a national independent station, which first started broadcasting in 2000. Over the next three years, he founded the current affairs newspaper, Akhali Epoka; a literary periodical, Chveni Mtserloba; a news agency, Media News; and a Georgian writers union, the Omega Club. He also established a literature prize and the Iverieli annual award for journalists.

On 19 February 2004, armed and masked Special Forces units raided and occupied Iberia TV and Omega Group buildings. Iberia was forced off the air, its licence revoked, and demands were made to Okuashvili by the then presidential administration to surrender majority shareholdings in his businesses.[6][7] Okuashvili successfully resisted these demands.

Okuashvili took up residence in London and was granted a UK passport. In the UK, he formed a British partnership and also set up a new company, AGT, with overall control of his holdings in Georgia, ownership of which he still retained.[8][9][10] Combined pressure, including the political intervention of the British Embassy in Tbilisi, led to the physical return of the Omega assets later in 2004. In 2013, following the change of Government in Georgia, Iberia TV had its licence restored and was once again on air.[11][12][13][14][15] In 2019, he became the founder of "Mtavari Arkhi" (Main Channel).[16]

Recognition

In 2010, Okuashvili was granted an Honorary Doctorate from the Tbilisi International Institute for Business and Law. In the same year, he received a special diploma for charitable work from the Patriarchate of Georgia. In 2013, Zaza Okuashvili was decorated with the deed of the British Embassy.[17] In 2016, he was awarded the “Golden Feather”, a prize by Georgian journalists for personal contribution to media freedom.[18] Also in 2016, he was recognised as “Best Investor” in the business ratings by Georgian Times and the Georgian Opinion Research Business International (“GORBI”).[19][20] In the same ratings, the Omega Group received awards for largest investor, introduction of modern technology, jobs creation and highest service standards. Iberia TV received the National Business Prize.

In April 2019 in Washington, Zaza Okuashvili was awarded for his contribution to the development of Georgia–United States relations. Zaza Okuashvili was first honoured at the Congress Hall, and then at the Baker Mackenzie Institute The New York Times Magazine passed him the award in the nomination “Enterepreneur ZAZA OKUASHVILI for Introducing World's Leading Brands in Georgia”.[21][22]

References

  1. ↑ Dimitri Kumsishvili visited Omega Group Office Today
  2. ↑ "Omega Motors Group" inaugurated the first premium class motor-car street in Georgia
  3. ↑ Grand opening of Maserati showroom in Georgia
  4. ↑ British Bentley enters Georgia officially - british ambassador to Georgia Mr. Justin McKenzie Smith and the founder of Omega Group Mr. Zaza Okuashvili opened Bentley showroom in Tbilisi
  5. ↑ Omega Group’s company OGT becomes the importer of the year
  6. ↑ The hellish chronicles of Iberia tv’s rose occupation
  7. ↑ “First they forced us to lie down facing ground… Furthermore, they made us stand at the wall like captives and pointed guns to us!”
  8. ↑ Office of the British Georgian Chamber Of Commerce opened in Tbilisi
  9. ↑ Mr. Robert Hurley visits Omega Group’s automobile show rooms and service centers
  10. ↑ Justice for Zaza Okuashvili has been done by media!
  11. ↑ This is a positive occasion for everybody as this is doing justice - Zaza Okuashvili
  12. ↑ Zaza Okuashvili – “I am ready to accept the immediate return of the license of Iberia TV”
  13. ↑ Zaza Okuashvili in the studio of talk show Priority with Maka Razmadze
  14. ↑ Zaza Okuashvili: - “Developments of 2004 were a hard test we passed successfully”
  15. ↑ The people invilved in the case of Rustavi2 were involved in the case of Iberia TV years ago – Zaza Okuashvili
  16. ↑ Companies founded by Zaza Okuashvili, purchased 40% of shares of TV company “Mtavari Channel”
  17. ↑ Zaza Okuashvili was decorated with the deed of the British Embassy
  18. ↑ Zaza Okuashvili has been decorated with Golden Feather award
  19. ↑ Zaza Okuashvili recognized as the best investor of the year
  20. ↑ Omega Group`s Zaza Okuashvili recognised as best investor of the year
  21. ↑ In Washington Zaza Okuashvili was awarded for the contribution to developing Georgian-American relations
  22. ↑ Zaza Okuashvili was awarded in Washington for taking his part in development of the Georgian-American relations
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