Vakhtang Kolbaia ( ka, ვახტანგ ყოლბაია; born 9 September 1952) is a Georgian politician. From 2013 to 2019, he was chairman of the government of the

Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised State (polity), state in the South Caucasus, International recognition of Abkhazia and ...

, which sits in exile in the Georgian capital of

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 pe ...

due to the

armed conflict War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regul ...

Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which ...

Political career

A native of Abkhazia, Kolbaia graduated from the Moscow Technological Institute of Food Industry with a degree in economics. He worked as the Communist Party youth organization official in the 1970s and 1980s. He served as the head of the administration of the Gali district from 1984 to 1990 and chairman of the Legal Committee and First Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia from 1990 to 1993. He served his tenure during the secessionist war in Abkhazia which forced the pro-Georgian faction of the Abkhazian government and legislature into internal displacement in Tbilisi in 1993. There, Kolbaia was the First Deputy Chairman of the Government of Abkhazia and head of the Gali district administration from 1993 to 1995. At the same time, he was member of 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 ...

for Abkhazia from 1992 to 2004 and First Deputy Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia from 1995 to 2004. He also headed the Georgian delegations to the

OSCE Parliamentary Assembly The Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE (OSCE PA) is an institution of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. The primary task of the 323-member Assembly is to facilitate inter-parliamentary dialogue, an important aspect of the o ...

from 1996 to 2003 and the CIS Parliamentary Assembly from 2000 to 2002. In 2008, he became secretary-general of the opposition

Democratic Movement – United Georgia Democratic Movement – United Georgia ( ka, დემოკრატიული მოძრაობა — ერთიანი საქართველო, ''demokratiuli modzraoba — ert’iani Sak’art’velo'') is a political party ...

party chaired by

Nino Burjanadze Nino Burjanadze ( Georgian: ნინო ბურჯანაძე , also romanized Burdzhanadze or Burdjanadze, born 16 July 1964) is a Georgian politician and lawyer who served as Chairperson of the Parliament of Georgia from November 2001 ...

. On 8 April 2013, he was elected the acting Chairman of Government (-in-exile) of Abkhazia after his predecessor,

Giorgi Baramia Giorgi Baramia ( ka, გიორგი ბარამია) (born 25 February 1966) is a Georgian diplomat and the chairman of the Government of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia (- in exile) from June 15, 2009 to April 5, 2013. Born in Su ...

, filed resignation. Kolbaia has been involved in various international non-governmental projects on conflict settlement issues. He is the head of Research Center at Caucasian Regional Security Institute and member of Executive Board at Caucasian Dialogue Foundation. He has published several books and articles on the regional conflicts and political developments. He is the recipient of Georgia's Order of Honor. He is married, with two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kolbaia, Vakhtang 1952 births Living people Government ministers of Abkhazia Democratic Movement – United Georgia politicians Members of the Parliament of Georgia Recipients of the Order of Honor (Georgia)