Prime Minister Appoints New Ministers
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili appointed on November 13 four new ministers under his recently announced structural and staff changes in the Cabinet.
Deputy Prime Minister Dimitri Kumsishvili, who served as Finance Minister, was appointed as new Economy Minister. Kumsishvili will be replaced by Mamuka Bakhtadze, former Director General of the Georgian Railway company.
Giorgi Gakharia, former Economy Minister, became Interior Minister, and Mikheil Chkhenkeli, former Deputy Rector of the Tbilisi State University, was appointed as new Education Minister.
Upon Kvirikashvili’s decision, former Interior Minister Giorgi Mgebrishvili was appointed as the head of the State Security and Crisis Management Council (SSCMC) replacing Mindia Janelidze, who was appointed to the post in May, 2015.
As part of the proposed structural changes, SSCMS will be merged with the Emergency Management Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and renamed into the Emergency Management Center. The new Center will be led by Mgebrishvili.
Prime Minister Kvirikashvili announced “a new wave of changes” in the Cabinet of Ministers on November 13. According to the changes, 13 ministries and one state minister’s office will remain instead of the current 16 ministries and two offices of the state minister.
The November 13 appointments do not necessitate parliamentary approval, while other changes proposed by the Prime Minister require respective legislative amendments, which the Government plans to initiate in coming days.
According to Shalva Tadumadze, the government’s parliamentary secretary, the new government will have to face confidence vote in the Parliament following the legislative amendments process.
