Mamuka Bakhtadze ( ka, მამუკა ბახტაძე; born 9 June 1982) is a Georgian politician who served as the country's
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 ...
from 20 June 2018 until 2 September 2019. Bakhtadze announced his official statement about resignation via Facebook post. He had previously served as
Minister of Finance
A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position .
A ministry of finance's portfolio ...
(2017–2018) and, prior to that, executive director of the
Georgian Railway
Georgian Railway LLC ( ka, საქართველოს რკინიგზა, tr) is the national railway company of Georgia.
A vital artery linking the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, it sits on the shortest route between Europe and Ce ...
company (2013–2017).
Education and early career
Born in
Tbilisi
Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...
,
Georgian SSR
The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Georgia, the Georgian SSR, or simply Georgia, was one of the republics of the Soviet Union from its second occupation (by the Red Army) in 1921 to its independence in 1991. Cotermin ...
, then part of the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, Bakhtadze graduated, in 2003, from the
Tbilisi State University
Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University ( ka, ივანე ჯავახიშვილის სახელობის თბილისის სახელმწიფო უნივერსიტეტი, tr; often shorten ...
with a degree in Management and Microeconomics and from the
Georgian Technical University
Georgian Technical University (GTU, formerly V.I. Lenin Georgian Polytechnical Institute) is the main and largest technical university of Georgia. It is located in the capital city of Tbilisi.
History
Georgian Technical University was foun ...
with that in Electromechanical Engineering. He obtained MBA from the
Moscow State University
Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...
in 2005 and the
INSEAD
INSEAD ( ; French: ''Institut européen d'administration des affaires'') is a non-profit business school with locations in Europe (Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE) and North America (San Francisco, USA ...
business school in 2010. After serving at the supervisory board of the
Georgian International Energy Corporation from October 2010 to November 2012, Bakhtadze became CEO of Georgian Railway LLC, the state-owned railway company of Georgia, in March 2013.
Government
On 13 November 2017, Bakhtadze was appointed Minister of Finance in the
second cabinet of
Giorgi Kvirikashvili
Giorgi Kvirikashvili ( ka, გიორგი კვირიკაშვილი; born 20 July 1967) is a Georgian politician who was Prime Minister of Georgia from 30 December 2015 to 13 June 2018. Prior to that he was Minister of Economy and ...
. Kvirikashvili stepped down as Prime Minister on 13 June 2018, citing his differences with
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 ...
, a recently reappointed influential chairman of the ruling
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 ...
party, and triggering the resignation of the entire cabinet.
Georgian Dream nominated Bakhtadze, 36 years old at that time, as Kvirikashvili's successor. By that time, he was largely a political unknown; 55% of respondents had not heard of him according to a survey conducted by the
International Republican Institute
The International Republican Institute (IRI) is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1983 and funded and supported by the United States federal government. Most of its board is drawn from the Republican Party. Its public mission is to a ...
in May 2018, two weeks before Bakhtadze's nomination. He was widely considered to have been Ivanishvili's personal choice and a close friend of the Ivanishvili family.
Bakhtadze's
incoming cabinet won the parliamentary vote of confidence with 99 votes in favor to 6 against on 20 June 2018.
The cabinet was reconfirmed, with 101 votes in favor to 12 against, by the parliament on 14 July after the previously announced structural reforms in the cabinet ministries were implemented.
Bakhtadze pledged to continue Georgia's Euro-Atlantic integration and implement "fundamental and innovative reforms". Bakhtadze's nomination was heavily criticized by the parliamentary opposition, especially,
European Georgia
European, or Europeans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...
and
United National Movement
United National Movement (UNM; ka, ერთიანი ნაციონალური მოძრაობა, tr) also colloquially known as the Natsebi is a liberal conservative political party in Georgia. Tina Bokuchava serves as the p ...
.
Prime minister
Bakhtadze's first foreign visit was to
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
in July 2018, during which he reaffirmed in his meetings with European officials that Georgia remained committed to its European Union aspirations. In his address to the
UN General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its 79th session, its powers, ...
in September 2018, Bakhtadze denounced the ongoing
Russian military presence in breakaway
Abkhazia
Abkhazia, officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a List of states with limited recognition, partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It cover ...
and
South Ossetia
South Ossetia, officially the Republic of South Ossetia or the State of Alania, is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus with International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, partial diplomatic recognition. It has an offici ...
and spoke of Georgia's new peace initiatives offered to these entities.
During his tenure as prime minister, the government adopted
Otkhozoria–Tatunashvili List to sanction Abkhazians and South Ossetians responsible for crimes committed against Georgians in separatist regions.
Bakhtadze unveiled various economic and political reform plans in 2018, such as those in education system and related to
green economy
A green economy is an economy that aims at reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities, and that aims for sustainable development without environmental degradation, degrading the environment. It is closely related with ecological econ ...
, including the Clean Transport policy. He was involved in a campaign to support
Salome Zourabichvili
Salomé Nino Zourabichvili (born 18March 1952) is a French-born Georgian politician, former diplomat, and the fifth president of Georgia – the first female to be elected as president in the country's history. As a result of the constitutiona ...
's candidacy to the
presidency of Georgia and welcomed her election as a "victory for democracy" in November 2018.
On 2 September 2019 Bakhtadze resigned from his position as prime minister. In a letter he published on
Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
he stated that he "decided to resign because I believe I have fulfilled my mission at this point."
References
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bakhtadze, Mamuka
1982 births
Prime ministers of Georgia
Living people
Georgian Dream politicians
Politicians from Tbilisi
Finance ministers of Georgia
Government ministers of Georgia (country)
Moscow State University alumni
Tbilisi State University alumni
INSEAD alumni