The director general of the state-funded Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB), Vasil Maglaperidze, has resigned.
Maglaperidze, who has served as the director general since early 2017, submitted a letter of resignation to the board of trustees today.
Hailing the 'excellent work' of the GPB team, Maglaperidze said he decided to resign to avoid any doubts about the broadcaster’s ‘credibility’ ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections.
The GPB coverage is the most balanced and unbiased. There is no censorship and the journalists are doing their best to report verified information only”, Maglaperidze wrote.
Denying any political reasons behind his resignation he said the GPB regards 'unbiased coverage of political developments its duty'.
GPB unites three TV channels: First Channel, First Caucasian and Second Channel, as well as two Radio stations: Radio One (FM 102.4) and Radio Two (FM 100.9);
It aims to provide 'accurate and up-to-date information that is free from political and commercial bias and is shared without any hidden agendas'.
According to the law of Georgia on broadcasting the board of trustees shall appoint a new director general through an open competition for the term of six years.
But as the post remains vacant yet, the first deputy Tinatin Berdzenishvili will temporarily replace Maglaperidze until the board selects a new director general.