We are terminating the partnership with IPSOS and they will no longer conduct exit polls on behalf of the Mtavari channel

Nika Gvaramia, CEO of the Mtavari Channel, says that the company IPSOS, which was conducting the research, had violated the contract grossly and in bad faith. According to him, The "Mtavari Channel" terminates the partnership with "IPSOS".

According to Nika Gvaramia, it raises significant doubts, and it is "surprising" that the "Mtavari Channel" received information about the position of the partner company from the briefing of "Georgian Dream".

He said there was a reasonable suspicion that a corrupt deal was taking place.

The raw materials of Zugdidi provided by the company IPSOS without additional technical analasys (known to us as allocation) are as follows:

Anzor Melia: 52.3%

Mamuka Tsotseria: 43.3%

Refused / Don't know: 4.4%

1. Redistributing the remaining 4.4% in such a way that we get 49/51 in favor of the dream candidate is hopefully easily understood to be absurd. In total, 4.4% should be added to the whole text (which is already a statistical absurdity). After providing us with the numbers, the only question we had was about a possible data gap in the city of Zugdidi, to which we received a telephone explanation that it was probably a technical error and were guided by the data, which we published later. We also received an explanation that the time before the publication of Rakiga is short, to avoid delays, we considered telephone consent as confirmation, and we received the consent by e-mail post-factum (mentioned several times during our partnership).

2. If we assume that the Mtavari channel decided to falsify the results, the question arises: did our biased approach extend only to the city of Zugdidi, where there is a consensus in Georgian society that the opposition candidate wins with a majority? Where did the opposition candidate lacked only 2% in total to win in the first round, and was the biggest difference between the candidate of the National Movement and the candidate of the Georgian Dream? And, at the same time, did we leave the minimal differences (within the limits of error) intact in all other cities and especially in the most important place, Tbilisi - by 3% behind the opposition candidate?

3. Even so, IPSOS has no right to publish any information without our consent. If they think that we have either misled or falsified the data, a communication should be made in advance to clarify the matter, which did not happen. If they had doubt in our good faith, the partner company could only terminate the contract immediately.

4. The margin of error indicated in the results published on the Ipsos site ranges from 4% to 5%. This is theoretically impossible and is not allowed under Georgian law, which should not exceed 3%. Obviously, Ipsos is aware of this requirement, and it is always part of the technical research protocol. The scope of the error in the research methodology submitted by them is indicated within the three percent required by law.

5. The statement also differs information on the timing of the fieldwork from the timelines provided to us by Ipsos.

6. The fact that the TV company receives information about the position of the main partner company from the Georgian Dream briefing raises significant doubts and is completely surprising. In an oligarchic country similar to Russia, it is not difficult to imagine what we are dealing with. We express a reasonable suspicion that a corrupt deal is taking place. In the last few hours, we have been intensively researching this issue and obtaining specific information, identifying the person who is the main figure in this fraud, and we have also identified the specific reason that led to this unscrupulous act.

7. The Mtavari channel believes that by this clearly disingenuous and extremely suspicious behavior, the company Ipsos has discredited itself irreparably. And a company with a damaged reputation can no longer be a reliable and trustworthy partner for us. All the more so during elections that are of existential importance to the country, and even more so when we are talking about exit polls.

8. We apologize to all the conscientious and highly competent employees of Ipsos, with whom the cooperation was a great honor and extremely effective. However, we regret that they have not been able to stop these types of actions and, among other things, protect the reputation of their own company from unscrupulous individuals.

9. Based on the above, we terminate the partnership with the company IPSOS, and it will no longer conduct exit polls on behalf of the Mtavari channel.

10. Unfortunately, we realize that this fraud was committed precisely because our exit polls were disrupted and the main mechanism for preventing fraud no longer exists.

11. Unfortunately, it must also be said that it is practically unthinkable to contract a new research organization in 2 days. This is only in the interests of the government and that is why we got a sabotage one day before the elections. Nevertheless, realizing that such actions by Georgian Ipsos have endangered Georgian democracy, we are working intensively on this issue so that we can still conduct exit polls in tomorrow's elections.

12. The Mtavari channel states that such unscrupulous and dishonest actions of the company Ipsos will be appealed under the arbitration procedure established by the contract, where we not only demand a refund of the amount paid, but also compensation for reputational damages and compensation of damages on the cancellation of exit polls.

13. The Mtavari channel also appeals to the investigative bodies of the respective country to start investigating the signs of possible corruption in the actions of its specific citizen, as well as to the possible participation of a Georgian citizen in a corrupt transaction committed on its territory.

14. The Mtavari channel will also inform all partner television, international media and human rights organizations, as well as private companies using Ipsos's services within the country, about its unreliability, dishonesty and alleged involvement in corrupt transactions.