On January 17, 2006, journalists and media workers gathered in downtown Tbilisi at Kostava Street 14 to protest the planned privatization of the Samshoblo publishing house building. The facility, home to numerous media outlets — including television stations and newspaper editorial offices — was set to be sold by the Ministry of Economic Development through a public auction. According to the Ministry’s Privatization Department, the building’s starting price was set at 20 million USD, with the auction scheduled for March 3, 2006. Employees of the organizations housed there hoped that public demonstrations would pressure the government to abandon the plan.

During the protest, TV Caucasia founder and anchor Nino Jangirashvili distributed around 200 toy trumpets and whistles to draw attention. Protesters carried banners and signs — one from Dila magazine read, “Don’t turn our ‘Morning’ into night!” They demanded that the government transfer ownership of Samshoblo to journalists and media organizations, warning that auctioning off the building would force dozens of newspapers and magazines to shut down.

Officials at the Ministry of Economic Development maintained their position, stating that over a hundred organizations would soon need to find new offices. Department head Ilia Gotsiridze refused to cancel the auction or lower the starting price, which would have allowed the media outlets to buy the building themselves. Journalists argued that the asking price was unreasonably high — several times greater than what had been paid for the privatization of the Iveria Hotel.

On January 24, media professionals held another protest, again without success. When the deadline for auction bids expired on March 6, dozens of journalists and editors gathered outside the Ministry to reiterate their demands. “We are not asking for a gift or special treatment,” said Nino Jangirashvili. “We only want an independent audit to determine the building’s real market value and to be given the right to purchase it directly.”

That same day, the government announced that the auction had been canceled because no buyers had submitted offers. Despite repeated attempts in the following years, the state was unable to sell the building, even after lowering the price. In August 2007, the Tbilisi City Hall’s supervision service forcibly evicted TV Caucasia and about 90 other organizations. The last residents — internally displaced families — were removed in 2010. Finally, in 2011, the government sold the property directly to City Loft Ltd., which later redeveloped the site into the Stamba and Rooms hotels and several office spaces.