PM Nika Gilauri rejected there were problems with transparency of media ownership in Georgia and said the country had diverse media landscape with some outlets “saying some good things about the government” and others strongly critical of the authorities.

He told an audience at the Atlantic Council in Washington on October 7, that like everywhere else in Georgia too various TV stations were giving different interpretation of current events.

“I’ve seen it everywhere absolutely… Even in the U.S. during the elections there was one TV company, which was saying completely different reality and another saying completely different, which is normal to democratic society,” said PM Gilauri, who was speaking in English.

Asked particularly about transparency of media ownership, the Georgian PM responded briefly: “It is very important; I do not know any media that could have this problem.”

EU said in its recent report on implementation of Georgia’s commitments undertaken under the EU-Georgia European Neighborhood Policy Action Plan, that problems remained with lack of transparency of broadcast media ownership.