Georgia’s ex-Defence Minister Davit Kezerashvili released a statement over the so-called call-centres case, saying he would exit the controlling ownership of Formula TV, thus ready to hand over half of his shares to the television staff.

According to the statement, Georgian society is entering a decisive stage in the fight against the Russian oligarchic regime; the unity of the Georgian people over European integration aspirations and Russia’s permanent defeats in Ukraine give a sign that Bidzina Ivanishvili’s plans to make Georgia an open platform for Vladimir Putin are doomed to failure.

Davit Kezerashvili said he had been the target of the pro-Russian government for many years, as everything beyond his control, among them independent financial resources, political parties, civic sector and media, represents a threat to Ivanishvili (Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder of GD).

“After vanishing the Ivanishvili factor and the final entry into the Western space, I am sure that free media will have many other sources of income even without my participation, and this will put an end to my activities in the direction of media support and all types of involvement in Georgian politics,” Kezerashvili said in a statement.

The former defence minister denied any connection with the BBC-released investigation regarding the swindling scam, saying he was ready to prove his innocence in the British court.

On April 12, the BBC Eye published a journalistic investigation, revealing that former Defence Minister of Georgia Davit Kezerashvili organized a shadowy network of business people, standing behind a global scamming network of robbing European pensioners of more than a billion dollars.