2016-09-09
Levan Davitashvili will be appointed to the post of the Minister of Agriculture and Ilia Eloshvili will take the post of Minister of Energy.
Ministers of the agriculture and energy have previously held the positions of the deputy ministers.
As it was noted by Giorgi Kvirikashvili, changes in the cabinet of ministers are caused by the election process, since the Vice Prime Minister Kakha Kaladze will participate in the elections as a party-list candidate, whereas Minister of Agriculture Otar Danelia will run a majoritarian candidate.
"levan Davitashvili has held the position of the deputy minister of agriculture for the last two years, whereas prior to this he served as a head of the National Wine Agency. Levan is an economist, and holds a MA degree from the Tbilisi State University and School of Management of the Milan Polytechnic University. Mr. Davitashvili has a vast experience of working with the NGO sector, international organizations and the private sector. Throughout the several years he has worked for the USAID agricultural sector development project and performed functions of the World Bank's business consultant. Many achievements attained in the wine export sector are due to his endevours in the recent years and I am glad that I have an honor to present him as a Minister of Agriculture - an area carrying particular significance for our country," - Prime Minister noted.
Ilia Eloshvili has held the position of the first deputy minister of energy since 2012. He has studied in the leading higher educational institutions of Georgia, America, Luxemburg and Holland.
"Ilia has a many years of experience in the field of energy. He has held leading positions in the number of private companies and international organizations, such as the USAID and the Millennium Development Goals. He has obtained a solid experience within the frames of the said programs. Ilia is a truly distinguished person. Personal qualities of Levan and Ilia are truly exceptional and I am glad to have an opportunity of presenting these individuals to the important posts," - Prime Minister indicated while wishing good luck to the new members of the Cabinet.
The head of the Government also thanked Kakha Kaladze and Otar Danelia who have engaged in the election process today. According to Giorgi Kvirikashvili, both of them have an important tasks.
"I believe that they will be successful in achieving these goals," - Prime Minister noted.
The head of the Government also responded to the question concerning the possible appointment of David Kirvalidze to the post of the Minister of Agriculture. Prime Minister noted that he discussed such possibility with David Kirvalidze.
According to Giorgi Kvirikashvili, David Kirvalidze is a high-ranking professional who has an important international position - he is the board member at the CNFA and has particular directions he cannot leave so easily.
"As for the future cooperation, I offered him the position of the Adviser of the Prime Minister in the agricultural area and there is a chance that he will cooperate with us in this area. David is a very good person and we will definitely cooperate with him in some form, however, today he cannot join the government for many reasons," - Giorgi Kvirikashvili noted.
As for the question of the journalists concerning the fact that the majoritarian candidates are not on the leading positions in the party list, Prime Minister responded that the political team decided to include the majoritarian candidates in the lower party-list positions due to the fact that their victory is not doubted and the party is willing to motivate the voters by not insuring the Parliament seats of their favourite candidates by placing them in the top of the party list.
"During the second round, it is particularly important to ensure that the voters are active. In some districts there may be a need of the second rounds and we would like to preserve the motivation to our voters to actively participate in the elections and support a person they would like to see in the Parliament.
As for the new faces presented in Saguramo, the first 11 comprised the top dozen of the party-list, whereas another group - those were selected to run as majoritarian candidates due to their particular potential. Following the principle adopted by us, the majoritarian candidates should not take the top ten positions of the party list - they had to take lower positions in the list following the alphabetical order. Otherwise, new members presented in Saguramo would take the leading places of the party-list. Political council shared this principle and enabled them to be fully engaged in the competition - this was the decision of our country," - Prime Minister noted.
Prime Minister's Press Office