Saakashvili Offers Expatriate Economists to Set Up Advisory Board

President Saakashvili has offered to set up of an advisory group consisting of Georgian expatriate economists and banking professionals to help the authorities in, as the President put it, tackling the consequences of the global economic crisis on Georgia.

He said that the authorities would listen to the group’s recommendations and “objective idea on how it is possible to protect our economy as much as possible under conditions of the current economic crisis.”

“I want to ask you to constantly have impartial information,” he told a group of Georgian economists, working in various international corporations, at a meeting on February 2. “Many processes start abroad and then come here, you are the first to observe these processes. I want that we set up a large international council against the crisis, which will be composed of our compatriots living abroad. I want to ask you for help as much as possible.”

President Saakashvili also met with the group on January 31. The group involved: Viktoria Beromelidze, investment banker at UBS; Guram  Andronikashvili, JPMorgan; Tamas Giorgadse, a senior consultant at McKinsey & Company; Kaha Kiknavelidze is the managing partner of Rioni Capital; George Kobulia, McKinsey & Company; Tsira Kemularia, mergers and acquisitions manager at Shell International; Davit Meskhi, Evergreen Investments; David Robakidze, managing director at One Equity Partners; Giorgi Avaliani, senior product strategy manager at Virgin Media; Dato Sandroshvili, investment banking associate at Citigroup; Nino Kostava, a consultant at the World Bank; Koba Gvenetadze, an economist at International Monetary Fund; Zaza Mikadze, currently earning his MBA at London Business School; Irakli Elashvili, also a student at London Business School; Archil Kekelia; Nikoloz Kurdiani and Goga Tkhelidze.

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