Levan Varshalomidze
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Levan Varshalomidze ( ka, ლევან ვარშალომიძე) (born 17 January 1972) is a Georgian politician and the Chairman of the Government of the
Autonomous Republic of Adjara Adjara ( ka, აჭარა ''Ach’ara'' ) or Achara, officially known as the Autonomous Republic of Adjara ( ka, აჭარის ავტონომიური რესპუბლიკა ''Ach’aris Avt’onomiuri Resp’ublik’a ...
from 2004 to 2012. He assumed office on 20 July 2004, following the resignation of
Aslan Abashidze Aslan Abashidze ( ka, ასლან აბაშიძე; born 20 July 1938) is the former leader of the Ajarian Autonomous Republic in western Georgia. He served in this capacity from 18 August 1991 to 5 May 2004. He resigned under the press ...
—who had run the region in defiance to the central government of Georgia—during the
2004 Adjara crisis The Adjara crisis (), also known as the Adjarian Revolution or the Second Rose Revolution, was a political crisis in Georgia's Adjaran Autonomous Republic, then led by Aslan Abashidze, who refused to obey the central authorities after President E ...
.Saakashvili's Ajara Success: Repeatable Elsewhere in Georgia?
The
International Crisis Group The International Crisis Group (ICG; also known as the Crisis Group) is a global non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 1995. It is a think tank, used by policymakers and academics, conducting research and analysis on global crises. ...
Europe Briefing, 18 August 2004.
In 2025, Varshalomidze was detained in Kazakhstan, presumably on the request of Russia.


Education and early career

Varshalomidze was born in
Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ), historically Batum or Batoum, is the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), second-largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast ...
. He graduated with a degree in law in 1994 from the Kiev State University, where he befriended a fellow Georgian student,
Mikheil Saakashvili Mikheil "Misha" Saakashvili (born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist. He was the third president of Georgia for two consecutive terms from 25 January 2004 to 17 November 2013. He is the founder and former chair ...
. He obtained a
PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
from the same institution in 1999 and joined the ranks of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , type= Ministry , seal= Seal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia.svg , seal_width = , seal_caption = Logo of the Georgian MFA , image = MFA Geo Building 3 Leonidze Str.jpg , image_size= 300px ...
.Chairman of Government
Government of Autonomous Republic of Ajara. Accessed 8 April 2012.
In 2000, when Saakashvili was the minister of justice of Georgia, he appointed Varshalomidze to head one of its bureaus. After a brief service with the Ministry of Finance of Georgia in 2002, he retired to a private sector. After Georgia's November 2003
Rose Revolution The Rose Revolution or Revolution of Roses ( ka, ვარდების რევოლუცია, tr) was a nonviolent change of power that occurred in Georgia in November 2003. The event was brought about by widespread protests over the ...
, which brought Saakashvili to power, Varshalomidze was appointed Director of the Georgian Railways in January 2004.


Government of Adjara

Varshalomidze returned to politics following the departure of Aslan Abashidze, a longtime Adjara strongman, who resigned following a showdown with Saakashvili's government on 6 May 2004. His family has been associated with the region's politics since the 1990s. His father, (died 2020), an erstwhile ally of Abashidze, chaired the Supreme Council of Adjara in the mid-1990s, later headed the region's statistics office and would lead the Georgian Oil Corporation from July 2004 to 2005. After Abashidze's ouster, Levan Varshalomidze was appointed by Saakashvili as a chairman of a special twenty-member Presidential Interim Council charged with handling the transition. On 20 July 2004, Varshalomidze was approved by the Supreme Council of Adjara as the chairman of the republic's government. Varshalomidze has been seen as a close ally of President Saakashvili and a member of the young reformist team which came into the Georgian politics after the 2003 Rose Revolution. Critics have accused him of amassing personal wealth, pressuring the media, and nepotism. During his tenure, Varshalomidze became a key figure behind the massive redevelopment of Adjara and particularly its capital,
Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ), historically Batum or Batoum, is the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), second-largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast ...
. He has stated he is trying to develop it, beyond being a summer tourist center, into an international financial hub. In April 2010, Varshalomidze publicly accused Nika Gilauri,
Prime Minister of Georgia The prime minister of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პრემიერ-მინისტრი, tr) is the head of government and chief executive of Georgia (country), Georgia. In Georgia, the President of Georgia, presi ...
, and the central government, of ignoring his requests for delegating "technical functions" to the local authorities in Adjara. Following a meeting with the members of the central government in Tbilisi, Varshalomidze said the differences were resolved. On 14 January 2012, Varshalomidze was awarded by President Saakashvili the Presidential Order of Excellence for his contributions to the efforts that led to release of Georgian sailors from captivity of
Somali pirates Horn of Africa * Somali Peninsula, a region of East Africa, also known as "The Horn of Africa" * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Greater Somalia ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Somali culture ...
. On 30 October 2012, following the defeat of Saakashvili-led United National Movement party in the nationwide and
regional In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
legislative elections in favor of the opposition
Bidzina Ivanishvili Bidzina Ivanishvili (; born 18 February 1956), also known as Boris Grigoryevich Ivanishvili, is a French-Georgian businessman, politician and billionaire oligarch. He is founder and the leader of the ruling Georgian Dream party and has ruled G ...
Georgian Dream Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia (GD), also colloquially known as the Kotsebi, is a Conservatism, conservative and populism, populist List of political parties in Georgia (country), political party in Georgia (country), Georgia, which has ...
coalition, the Supreme Council of Adjara elected Archil Khabadze, a candidate nominated by Georgia's new
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Bidzina Ivanishvili, as the new head of Adjara's government. Varshalomidze became the leader of a regional cell of the now-opposition United National Movement party.


Post-2012

After his retirement from government, Levan Varshalomidze founded the LVP Project Management and Consulting company. In 2015, Varshalomidze became an adviser to the
Ukrainian President The president of Ukraine (, ) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. ...
Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiiovych Poroshenko (born 26 September 1965) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician and Oligarchy, oligarch who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine), Minister ...
and led a team of Georgian experts, aiming at facilitating reforms in Ukraine. He returned to Adjara in July 2016 and launched a campaign for the upcoming regional and national legislative elections scheduled for October 8. On March 18, 2025, Varshalomidze was detained in
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
, while crossing the border. According to
Unity – National Movement Unity – National Movement ( ka, ერთიანობა – ნაციონალური მოძრაობა, tr) is an informal Political alliance, politician coalition of Western world, pro-Western List of political parties in Geo ...
representative Levan Bezhashvili, Varshalomidze now faces "a risk of extradition" to
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
, as he was indicted in the country before for political consulting with the
Government of Ukraine The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (), commonly referred to as the Government of Ukraine (), is the highest body of state Executive (government), executive power in Ukraine. As the Cabinet of Ministers of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republi ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varshalomidze, Levan 1972 births Living people People from Batumi Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv alumni Jurists from Georgia (country) United National Movement (Georgia) politicians Heads of Government of Adjara Recipients of the Presidential Order of Excellence People of Adjarian descent