When the UK froze the assets of Georgia's two most-watched pro-government television channels last week the government in Tbilisi had a simple message for its banks: ignore London. The channels, for their part, announced they would build their own bank, according to multiple reports in the Georgian media.

On February 24, the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the UK designated Imedi TV and POSTV as part of a broader package targeting nearly 300 entities linked to Russia. Both channels were accused of systematically portraying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as illegitimate, casting Ukraine as a corrupt Western puppet and suggesting Kyiv was actively working to destabilise Georgia. The measures include asset freezes, trust services restrictions and director disqualification.

Transparency International-Georgia laid out what that meant in practice: frozen bank accounts, no advertising revenue, no TV series licences, no equipment purchases and pressure on every Georgian business dealing with the channels to cut ties or risk secondary sanctions from London. 

Crucially, TI-Georgia argued the reach of the sanctions extended far beyond British jurisdiction. Any Georgian bank providing services to the channels risked reputational and financial exposure through the international financial system, meaning the pressure would fall on lenders across the board, not just TBC Bank and Bank of Georgia, which are listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Inside Imedi the scramble was immediate. Four of the channel's five supervisory board members paid GEL414 (€153) each for same-day resignation processing on February 25. Former owner Irakli Rukhadze, who had sold his shares weeks earlier for a symbolic GEL1,000, was among those who walked out. Two new companies called Supporters of Imedi and Supporters of POSTV appeared in the public registry the same day, fuelling speculation that the channels' managers were already exploring ways to route funds around the restrictions. Imedi's website went offline for over an hour on the evening of February 25 before returning. By February 27 the channel went further still, announcing plans to establish Imedi Bank within months, backed by what it called “loyal friends and sponsors”.

The ruling Georgian Dream party, which critics say treats both channels as political assets, told Georgian banks they were bound by domestic law rather than British sanctions. National Bank of Georgia president Natia Turnava said that in any conflict between Georgian legislation and a foreign jurisdiction Georgian law prevailed. 

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze called the decision "absolutely absurd" and alleged coordination between British bureaucracy and what he called "local Georgian agents" feeding information to London to trigger the designations. He invoked former UK prime minister Liz Truss's comments about a British "deep state" as supporting evidence. "Those who manage British bureaucracy are the same people who manage the local Georgian agency," he said.

Foreign Minister Maka Bochorishvili summoned British Ambassador Gareth Ward on February 26 and spent 40 minutes demanding evidence. She said she got none. "I did not hear a single argument," she told reporters, adding that the decision had almost certainly been shaped by information provided from inside Tbilisi rather than any independent British assessment of the channels' content. Ward left without comment. The ministry's subsequent press release called the sanctions "unfounded" and "a blatant attack on Georgian society”.

Analyst Gia Japaridze was sceptical the channel could survive intact regardless of government backing. Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire founder of Georgian Dream who is widely seen as the country's de facto ruler, would keep Imedi afloat financially in the short term, he said, but the channel's ability to function as before was a different matter. "Imedi has been significantly weakened and this will be directly proportional to the weakening of Georgian Dream," Japaridze said. "Working on Imedi today is very risky." The channel generated GEL45mn in advertising revenue in 2025, around 45% of all Georgian TV advertising.