 |
Inna GydavadzeWidow of Badri Patarkatsishvili
Country:
 Georgia |
Biography of Inna Gudavadze
Widow of Badri PatarkatsishviliInna Gudavadze is the widow of the well-known Georgian businessman and public figure, Badri Patarkatsishvili. She gained media attention due to the battle for control over Patarkatsishvili's assets, including the television channel "Imedi". Gudavadze was married to the prominent businessman and public figure, and former business partner of Boris Berezovsky, Badri Patarkatsishvili. According to media reports, Gudavadze is of Russian descent and adheres to the Orthodox faith. Some sources suggest that Patarkatsishvili also converted to Orthodoxy for Gudavadze. However, other sources claimed that Patarkatsishvili, being Jewish, practiced Judaism and regularly attended synagogue.
On February 13, 2008, Patarkatsishvili's death was announced. According to official reports, he passed away from a heart attack. On February 28, Patarkatsishvili was buried on the grounds of his residence, "Arkadia," in Tbilisi. The ceremony was attended by over ten thousand people. Georgian media speculated that "very famous people" came incognito to bid farewell to the businessman. According to media reports, Gudavadze became his main heir, according to Patarkatsishvili's will. The will also mentioned Gudavadze and Patarkatsishvili's daughters, Liana and Iya. Additionally, journalists noted that a portion of the inheritance was given to Patarkatsishvili's illegitimate son, David (Dato), who resides in Moscow. The officially inherited sum was not disclosed in the press. However, experts estimated that Patarkatsishvili's fortune before his death ranged from 9 to 12 billion dollars.
On March 19, 2008, Gudavadze released an "open letter to the Georgian people," in which she claimed that the Georgian authorities were preventing the opposition television channel "Imedi" from airing. To achieve this, they began the process of transferring the channel's ownership to one of Patarkatsishvili's relatives, American citizen Joseph Key, who was formerly known as Iosif Kakalashvili before emigrating to the USA (the channel's assets were seized on January 25, 2008, due to Patarkatsishvili's alleged conspiracy to overthrow the government). On March 21, former Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili, who was in Paris at the time, also stated that the authorities intended to appropriate "Imedi" with Key's help. Media reports indicated that Key acquired 65 percent of "Imedi" shares from businessman Gogi Jaoshvili. In turn, Patarkatsishvili transferred the shares to Jaoshvili a few days before his death. It was noted that Key acquired the shares secretly, without the knowledge of Patarkatsishvili's family and his lawyers, while the authorities lifted the arrest on "Imedi".
On March 24, 2008, a large opposition rally took place in the center of Tbilisi. Protesters demanded the return of the television company "Imedi" to Gudavadze. On March 26, Key held negotiations in Tbilisi with the CEO of "Imedi," Bidzina Baratashvili, after which he announced that Rupert Murdoch's international media corporation, News Corporation, which had been entrusted with the management of "Imedi" by Patarkatsishvili during his lifetime, would no longer have any relation to the channel.
On April 8, 2008, it was announced that Gudavadze and her daughters filed a lawsuit against Key and his lawyer, Emmanuel Zeltser. The case will be heard in the Southern District Court of New York. Gudavadze accused the defendants of using forged documents, including Patarkatsishvili's will, and demanded that Key stop calling himself the executor of her husband's will. The lawsuit claimed that Key and Zeltser attempted to contact Patarkatsishvili's business partners and gain control over his assets. According to the lawsuit, the defendants visited Salford Capital Partners and Mainstay Trust Limited, which managed a portion of Patarkatsishvili's assets, on February 15, 2008, and demanded information about the late businessman's securities.
On May 13, 2008, it was reported in the media that Patarkatsishvili's family won the lawsuit against Key. Representatives of Gudavadze told journalists that Key admitted in court that he had no right to call himself the executor of Patarkatsishvili's will. Key also acknowledged that none of the documents presented by him and his lawyer, Zeltser, gave him the right to dispose of the deceased businessman's assets.
On May 30, 2008, Gudavadze issued a statement expressing strong protest against the decision of the Tbilisi City Court on May 14, which allowed Key to manage and even sell Patarkatsishvili's assets. Gudavadze emphasized that this decision was made secretly, and she learned about it completely by chance from the media.
