Four ministries abolished and six ministers relieved of duties

According to a decision made by Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, there will now be 14 ministries in Georgia instead of eighteen – the Ministries of Energy, Agriculture, Sport and Youth and also the Ministry for Integration with European structures have been abolished.

The announcement concerning the changes was made on 13 November by Kvirikashvili at a special briefing. The ministers of internal Affairs, Finance and Education left their positions.

The new minister of Internal Affairs will be the current Minister of Economy, Giorgi Gakharia. The Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has been appointed as the Director of the Center for Emergency Situations. The institute is in the process of being created and will replace the Council of Crisis Management and the Agency for Emergency Situations and they will both report directly to the Prime Minister.

The Ministry of Education and Science will be headed by the Vice-Rector of Tbilisi State University Mikhail Chkhenkeli.

The position of the Minister of Finance will be filled by the General Director of Georgian Railways Mamuka Bakhtadze.

Along with this, several departments have been restructured and expanded. The apparatus of the State Minister for Integration into the European and Euro-Atlantic structures has been transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Foreign Intelligence Service has been transferred to the State Security Service.

Also, the Ministry of Energy was abolished and its duties have been transferred to the Ministry of Economy, the head of which was Dimitri Kumsishvili. He will retain the powers of vice prime minister.

The Ministry of Agriculture will no longer be an independent body but will joined with the Ministry of Environmental Protection. At the same time, the functions of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources are changing: activities dealing with natural resources will be handled by the Ministry of Economy. Levan Davitashvili was appointed as Head of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture.

Moreover, the Ministry of Youth and Sports was also abolished. The functions of this department will be transferred through to the Ministry of Culture, and youth work will be dealt with by the Ministry of Education. Mamuka Giorgadze remains as the Minister of Culture. However, the Minister of Education Alexander Djedzhalava has been relieved of his duties.

As a result of personnel and structural changes, six ministers have left office: Giorgi Mgebrishvili of the Ministry of the interior, Alexander Djedelava in Education, Elijah Eloshkili from Energy, Tariel Hecikashvili from Sport, Gigla Agulashvili in Environment and the State Minister for European Integration Viktor Dolidze.

The Prime Minister of Georgia says that these changes aim to optimize the system of management and governance – he believes that the large-scale reshuffle will allow the state to save on bureaucratic and administrative expenses.

The changes will be approved at the next state meeting after which they will be examined by parliament for final approval.

• According to the constitution of Georgia, if the composition of the state is not changed by a third, the new composition of the state must be approved of by the parliament.