Erosi Kitsmarishvili

Who was Erosi Kitsmarishvili?

Erosi Kitsmarishvili was a Georgian media executive and served as Ambassador of Georgia to the Russian Federation from April to July, 2008. Appointed in April, 2008, Kitsmarishvili was recalled on July 11 after Russia confirmed it had conducted military flights over South Ossetia, a breakaway region of Georgia that would be occupied by Russia after the August 2008 War between the two states.

Prior to accepting the ambassadorial post, Kitsmarishvili owned the Rustavi 2 television broadcasting company, which played a key role during the Rose Revolution of 2003. Since his dismissal in mid-September 2008 by Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, he publicly criticized Saakashvili's handling of the August 2008 war with Russia over the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia — claiming that although Russia had provoked the conflict, the actual fighting had been started by Georgia, and that the United States had approved the Georgian government's plans to retake Abkhazia in early 2008. Kitsmarishvili has also spoken out in favour of increased pluralism in the Georgian media.