Lela Chikovani and Nukri Gelashvili have become deputy defense ministers to newly appointed Defense Minister Levan Izoria.
Lela Chikovani, who was appointed as the First Deputy Defense Minister on August 2, has served as chief of the administration in the State Security Service; she held the same position in the Interior Ministry before the security and intelligence agencies were separated from the ministry in August, 2015.
Chikovani, who has the rank of lieutenant colonel, was Georgia’s military attaché to Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland in 2007-2008.
Graduate of the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School and the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Chikovani served as head of the strategic planning department at the Ministry of Defense in 2008-2010. She also served as deputy head of maritime cooperation office at the Georgian coast guard department.
Another newly appointed Deputy Defense Minister, Nukri Gelashvili, up until now has served as a rector of the Interior Ministry’s Police Academy since November, 2012.
