By Helena Bedwell

Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili plans to open a satellite television channel managed by his wife Ekaterine Khvedelidze, as he prepares to contest a parliamentary election next year.

No date has been set for putting the channel on air, Nona Kandiashvili, a spokeswoman for Ivanishvili, said by telephone in the capital Tbilisi today. The channel received a broadcasting license in September, said Khatia Kurashvili, a spokeswoman for the National Communications Commission.

Ivanishvili, whose wealth was estimated at $5.5 billion by Forbes magazine in March, began a public movement last month aimed at challenging President Mikheil Saakashvili’s party in the election.

Ivanishvili’s lawyers said yesterday that they had petitioned the country’s Justice Ministry to restore his Georgian citizenship, which was revoked on Oct. 11.

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