Saakashvili Appoints New Cabinet Member of Ossetian Ethnicity

On August 3 Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili appointed  Zinaida Bestaeva, an ethnic Ossetian, as a Deputy State Minister of Georgia.

Zinaida Bestaeva, who earlier served in Russia?s North Ossetia as the Deputy Head of the Immigration Service, will perform her duties as the First Deputy State Minister for Regional Policy, Local Self-Governance and Governance Issues.

Bestaeva is the first citizen of Ossetian origin who has attained a high position in the independent Georgian government.