Georgia's largest independent television channel, which suspended broadcasts in late December, will not be broadcasting news until June, however, and will only show films and concerts.
"The channel will only start operating at full capacity...in September," the company's general director, Bidzina Baratashvili, said.
Imedi, founded by the late Georgian tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili, was first shut down last year on November 7 for allegedly inciting violence in the ex-Soviet Caucasus state during street protests against President Mikheil Saakashvili. The channel's property was later confiscated, and its license suspended.
Billionaire Patarkatsishvili, who financed the opposition and planned to run in the January 5 presidential polls which returned Saakashvili to power, died in February this year at his home near London. A post-mortem examination showed that he died of a heart attack, although his death was initially treated as 'suspicious.'
Following the November protests, the channel resumed broadcasts on December 12. However, two weeks later, Imedi was again closed down until the legal status of the company could be determined. Broadcasts were expected to be resumed in early April, but were postponed due to technical as well as financial reasons.
Imedi's new owner, Joseph Kay, a U.S. national and Patarkatsishvili's cousin, has pledged not to interfere in the company's policies.
Kay, who is also known as Ioseb Kakalashvili, claims he owns 70% of the company's shares. However, Patarkatsishvili's widow filed a lawsuit with a court in New York in April saying that Kay's claim to Imedi and her late husband's assets was illegal.
