Giorgi Kvirikashvili

Giorgi Kvirikashvili გიორგი კვირიკაშვილი
12th Prime Minister of Georgia
Incumbent
Assumed office 30 December 2015
President	Giorgi Margvelashvili
Preceded by	Irakli Garibashvili
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 1 September 2015 – 30 December 2015
Prime Minister	Irakli Garibashvili
Preceded by	Tamar Beruchashvili
Succeeded by	Mikheil Janelidze
Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development
In office 25 October 2012 – 1 September 2015
Prime Minister	Bidzina Ivanishvili Irakli Garibashvili
Preceded by	Vera Kobalia
Succeeded by	Dimitri Kumsishvili
Personal details
Born	(1967-07-20) 20 July 1967 Tbilisi, Soviet Union (now Georgia)
Political party	Georgian Dream
Alma mater	Tbilisi State Medical University Tbilisi State University University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Giorgi Kvirikashvili (Georgian: გიორგი კვირიკაშვილი; born July 20, 1967) is a Georgian politician who is Prime Minister of Georgia since December 30, 2015. Prior to that he was Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development from October 25, 2012 until September 1, 2015, Minister of Foreign Affairs from September 1, 2015 until December 30, 2015, and Vice Prime Minister from July 26, 2013 until December 30, 2015. Kvirikashvili has led initiatives to advance Euro-Atlantic and European integration and highlight Georgia as an attractive location for foreign investment.^[1]

Education

Born in Tbilisi, Kvirikashvili went through the compulsory military service in the Soviet army from 1986 to 1988. He graduated from the Tbilisi State Medical University with a degree in Internal Medicine in 1991 and then from the Tbilisi State University with a degree in Economics in 1995. In 1998, he obtained a master's degree in finances from the University of Illinois.^[2]

Career

Kvirikashvili worked as an executive for various banks in Georgia from 1993 to 1999 and as a deputy head of fiscal and monetary office at the State Chancellery of the President of Georgia in 1999. From 1999 to 2004, he was member of the Parliament of Georgia on the ticket of New Rights party.^[3] After the Rose Revolution swept Mikheil Saakashvili to the presidency of Georgia, Kvirikashvili returned to his businesses. From 2006 to 2011, he was Director General of Cartu Bank, owned by the multi-billionaire tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili. With Ivanishvili's coming in politics and the victory of his Georgian Dream coalition over Saakashvili's United National Movement in the October 2012 parliamentary election, Kvirikashvili was appointed Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia in the cabinet of Bidzina Ivanishvili in October 2012. He additionally assumed the office of Vice Prime Minister in July 2013. He retained both these positions in the succeeding cabinet of Irakli Garibashvili, Ivanishvili's choice as his successor, in November 2013.^[2][4]

In December 2015, Kviriashvili was nominated by the Georgian Dream coalition as new Prime Minister after Irakli Garibashvili announced his resignation. Kvirikashvili and his incoming cabinet won the confidence vote in the Parliament with 86 votes to 28 on December 30, 2015.^[5] Kvirikashvili's government is focused on growing the economy and promoting entrepreneurship.^[6] Kvirikashvili has said that he would like to make Georgian–American relations "a backbone of regional stability, economic development, and democratization."^[7]

References