The Georgian Intelligence Service (GIS) ( ka, საქართველოს დაზვერვის სამსახური, ''sakartvelos dazvervis samsakhuri'') is a national

intelligence agency An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives. Means of informa ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, with its headquarters in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...

. The current head of the service is Shalva Lomidze, appointed in 2020. The GIS is directly subordinated to the

Prime Minister of Georgia The prime minister of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პრემიერ-მინისტრი, tr) is the head of government and chief executive of Georgia. In Georgia, the president is a ceremonial head of state and mai ...

. It is responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment and conducting counter-intelligence duties abroad.Our mission
Georgian Intelligence Service. Retrieved on April 24, 2011

History

After the declaration of independence from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

in 1991, Georgia established its own intelligence agency, the Service for Information and Intelligence (საინფორმაციო–სადაზვერვო სამსახური), on the basis of the

Soviet-era The history of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union (USSR) reflects a period of change for both Russia and the world. Though the terms "Soviet Russia" and "Soviet Union" often are synonymous in everyday speech (either acknowledging the dominance ...

Committee for State Security. The Georgian KGB was notable in that it was considered to be the one of the most effective of the KGB's regional Soviet branches, under the command of Aleksi Inauri and

Givi Gumbaridze Givi Gumbaridze ( ka, გივი გუმბარიძე; born 22 March 1945) is a former Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1 ...

for most of its existence. From 1993 to 1997, the SII functioned as the Chief Directorate for Foreign Intelligence (საგარეო დაზვერვის მთავარი სამმართველო) under the Ministry for State Security. On September 19, 1997, the agency was transformed into an independent State Intelligence Department (დაზვერვის სახელმწიფო დეპარტამენტი), with two regional divisions for Adjara and Abkhazia. Being briefly under the Ministry for State Security from 2004 to 2005, the agency was again made independent as the Foreign Intelligence Special Service (საგარეო დაზვერვის სპეციალური სამსახური) on January 24, 2005. The current name—Georgian Intelligence Service—was adopted in compliance with the new intelligence legislation passed in the

Parliament of Georgia The Parliament of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პარლამენტი, tr) is the supreme national legislature of Georgia. It is a unicameral parliament, currently consisting of 150 members; of these, 120 are proporti ...

on April 27, 2010.

Structure

The GIS consists of five principal subdivisions. These are: * Analytical Directorate * Information Directorate * Security Directorate * Administrative Directorate * Training Center

Heads of Georgian intelligence agency (1997–present)

* Avtandil Ioseliani (September 1997 – February 2004) * Valeri Chkheidze (February–June 2004) *

Batu Kutelia Batu Kutelia is a Georgian politician, diplomat and political analyst. He served as Ambassador of Georgia to the United States from January 2011 till November 2013. Previously, he had served as first deputy of the Minister of Defence of Georgia ...

(June–October 2004) * Anna Zhvania (October 2004 – February 2008) * Gela Bezhuashvili (February 2008 – December 2013) * Davit Sujashvili (December 2013 – September 2019) * Levan Izoria (September 2019 – 2020)Head of Service
Georgian Intelligence Service. Retrieved on April 24, 2011 * Shalva Lomidze (February 2020-present)

References

{{National intelligence agencies Intelligence agencies Government of Georgia (country) Government agencies established in 1997 1997 establishments in Georgia (country)