The Georgian Information Agency, known as Saqinform, was established in 2010. It operates 4 different domain names: SAQINFORM.GE, RU.SAQINFORM.GE, GRUZINFORM.GE, RU.GRUZINFORM.GE.
Since 2013, the 100% share of the agency has been owned by Arno Khidirbegishvili, who is also the chief editor of the media outlet.
The domain of Saqinform is registered under the name of Taras Gagnidze, the head of the pro-Russian organization Historical Heritage, who also owns Georgia and the World.
In terms of content, Saqinform and Georgia and the World frequently republish each other’s articles. Their materials often feature anti-Western propaganda, homophobic and xenophobic statements, and their narratives largely mirror pro-Kremlin messaging.
These very messages are often expressed by the editor, Arno Khidirbegashvili, himself. He often evaluates the ongoing events both on the websites of Saqinform and his own- www.arnoxidi.com. The websites are bilingual, publishing content in both Georgian and Russian.
There are two Facebook accounts under Khidirbegishvili’s name (here and here).
Arno Khidirbegishvili is also a contributor to the Georgian edition of the Kremlin media outlet, Sputnik, and he is frequently cited by the Asaval-Dasavali Newspaper, which publishes openly declared xenophobic and homophobic content, as well as anti-Western sentiments often identical to the narrative of openly pro-Russian media outlets.
