Zurab Noghaideli
Encyclopedia
Zurab Noghaideli (born 22 October 1964) is a Georgian
businessman and a politician who served as the Prime Minister of Georgia
from February 2005 until he resigned, citing health problems, on 16 November 2007. In December 2008, Noghaideli withdrew into opposition, setting up the Movement for Fair Georgia party.
, Ajaria, Georgia
, Noghaideli graduated from the Moscow State University
with a diploma in Physics
in 1988. Before entering into national politics, he worked for the Institute of Geography
of the Georgian Academy of Sciences
between 1988-1992. In 1989-1990, he was also trained at the Institute of Geology
of the Academy of Sciences of Estonia
.
, in the Green Party
of Georgia in early 1990s. Noghaideli became a deputy in the Parliament of Georgia
in 1992, elected following the overthrow of President Zviad Gamsakhurdia
, and chaired the Parliamentary Committee on Environment Protection and Natural Resources during 1992-1995. He was again member of the successor Parliaments in 1995-1999 and 1999–2000, when he chaired the Parliamentary Tax and Income Committee.
in the capacity of Minister of Finance
in May 2000. During these years, he was considered a member of a political team of young reformists headed by Zurab Zhvania and Mikheil Saakashvili
and proved to be quite an effective minister.
In 2001, he left the President-run Union of Citizens of Georgia
party which he had joined in 1995. He was sacked, in 2002, without explanation, though it appears that he had intended to resign in protest against the policies of Shevardnadze’s increasingly corrupted government (as the Minister of Justice Mikheil Saakashvili did a year before).
In a brief period of 2002-2003, he was involved in banking and investment ventures.
After Shevardnadze was ousted in the Rose Revolution
of 21–23 November 2003, Noghaideli returned to government as the economic adviser to the acting president, Nino Burjanadze
. He was re-appointed to his old post as Minister of Finance in February 2004 in the government of Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania
.
with a tough approach to the corruption that plagues Georgia's economy.
According to Financial weekly Georgian newspaper The World Bank Group and the U.S. Agency for International Development has honored Zurab Nogaideli, Prime Minister of Georgia, as top business environment reformer of the year 2007. The Prime Minister has led reforms which have catapulted Georgia from a ranking of 112 to 37th place in the World Bank Group’s 2007 global rankings on the regulatory ease of doing business.
Noghaideli is married and has one child.
in Houston, U.S. The operation, led by leading US surgeon
Dr. Charles Frazier, lasted for 8 hours and involved transplanting one mitral valve
of the PM's heart.
After his resignation, Noghaideli said he would retire from politics and later joined the Kala Capital company - owned by the soccer star Kakha Kaladze - as its chairman. Since June 2008, he has also been a chairman of the International School of Economics at Tbilisi State University
Business Council.
, in September 2008, Noghaideli appeared in the Georgian press, unleashing heavy criticism of foreign and domestic policies of Mikheil Saakashvili. On 3 December 2008, he set up a new opposition party, the Movement for Fair Georgia.
In 2009, Noghaideli traveled several times in Russia
, meeting top Russian officials, including Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin
(23 December 2009). In December 2009, he also met Eduard Kokoity
, the breakaway South Ossetia
n leader, ostensibly to help release of the Georgian teenagers detained by the South Ossetian milita. Noghaideli's rapprochement with Moscow met a negative outcry in the Georgian government. President Saakashvili described Noghaideli's Russian stance as a "sin".
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
businessman and a politician who served as the Prime Minister of Georgia
Prime Minister of Georgia
The Prime Minister of Georgia is the most senior minister within the Cabinet of Georgia, appointed by the President of Georgia. The official title of the Head of the Government of Georgia has varied throughout history, however, the duties and functions of the leader have changed only marginally....
from February 2005 until he resigned, citing health problems, on 16 November 2007. In December 2008, Noghaideli withdrew into opposition, setting up the Movement for Fair Georgia party.
Early life and career
Born in KobuletiKobuleti
Kobuleti is a town in Georgia's southwestern region of Ajaria. It is situated on the eastern coast of the Black Sea. Kobuleti is a sea resort, visited annually by Georgians and many former Soviet Union residents. From the 17th century into the 19th, Kobuleti was a fiefdom of the Tavdgiridze...
, Ajaria, Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, Noghaideli graduated from the Moscow State University
Moscow State University
Lomonosov Moscow State University , previously known as Lomonosov University or MSU , is the largest university in Russia. Founded in 1755, it also claims to be one of the oldest university in Russia and to have the tallest educational building in the world. Its current rector is Viktor Sadovnichiy...
with a diploma in Physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
in 1988. Before entering into national politics, he worked for the Institute of Geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
of the Georgian Academy of Sciences
Georgian Academy of Sciences
The Georgian National Academy of Sciences is a main learned society of the Georgia. It was named Georgian SSR Academy of Sciences until November 1990...
between 1988-1992. In 1989-1990, he was also trained at the Institute of Geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
of the Academy of Sciences of Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
.
Parliament
He started his political career together with his friend, Zurab ZhvaniaZurab Zhvania
Zurab Zhvania was a prominent Georgian politician, having served as Prime Minister of Georgia and Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia as well as Minister without Portfolio. Zhvania assumed premiership on 18 February 2004 and remained on the position until his death on 3 February 2005...
, in the Green Party
Green Party (Georgia)
The Green Party is a political party in Georgia. It is led by Gia Gachechiladze.Its success has varied - having 11 out of 235 members of parliament in 1992 and having been art of the governing coalition in 1995.When it stood independently in 1999 it only received 0.55% of the vote...
of Georgia in early 1990s. Noghaideli became a deputy in the Parliament of Georgia
Parliament of Georgia
Parliament of Georgia is the supreme legislature of Georgia. It is unicameral and has 150 members, known as deputies, from which 75 members are proportional representatives and 75 are elected through single-member district plurality system, representing their constituencies...
in 1992, elected following the overthrow of President Zviad Gamsakhurdia
Zviad Gamsakhurdia
Zviad Gamsakhurdia was a dissident, scientist and writer, who became the first democratically elected President of the Republic of Georgia in the post-Soviet era...
, and chaired the Parliamentary Committee on Environment Protection and Natural Resources during 1992-1995. He was again member of the successor Parliaments in 1995-1999 and 1999–2000, when he chaired the Parliamentary Tax and Income Committee.
Minister of Finance
He joined the government of Eduard ShevardnadzeEduard Shevardnadze
Eduard Shevardnadze is a former Soviet, and later, Georgian statesman from the height to the end of the Cold War. He served as President of Georgia from 1995 to 2003, and as First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party , from 1972 to 1985. Shevardnadze was responsible for many top decisions on...
in the capacity of Minister of Finance
Ministry of Finance (Georgia)
The Ministry of Finance is a governmental agency within the Cabinet of Georgia in charge of regulating the financial sector in the Republic of Georgia...
in May 2000. During these years, he was considered a member of a political team of young reformists headed by Zurab Zhvania and Mikheil Saakashvili
Mikheil Saakashvili
Mikheil Saakashvili is a Georgian politician, the third and current President of Georgia and leader of the United National Movement Party.Involved in the national politics since 1995, Saakashvili became president on 25 January 2004 after President Eduard Shevardnadze resigned in a November 2003...
and proved to be quite an effective minister.
In 2001, he left the President-run Union of Citizens of Georgia
Union of Citizens of Georgia
The Union of Citizens of Georgia is a centre-left political party established by Eduard Shevardnadze, President of Georgia between 1992-2003 and David Chantladze, former General Trade Representative of Soviet Union to Czechoslovakia...
party which he had joined in 1995. He was sacked, in 2002, without explanation, though it appears that he had intended to resign in protest against the policies of Shevardnadze’s increasingly corrupted government (as the Minister of Justice Mikheil Saakashvili did a year before).
In a brief period of 2002-2003, he was involved in banking and investment ventures.
After Shevardnadze was ousted in the Rose Revolution
Rose Revolution
The "Revolution of Roses" was a change of power in Georgia in November 2003, which took place after having widespread protests over the disputed parliamentary elections...
of 21–23 November 2003, Noghaideli returned to government as the economic adviser to the acting president, Nino Burjanadze
Nino Burjanadze
Nino Burjanadze is a Georgian politician and lawyer who served as Chairperson of the Parliament of Georgia from November 2001 to June 2008...
. He was re-appointed to his old post as Minister of Finance in February 2004 in the government of Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania
Zurab Zhvania
Zurab Zhvania was a prominent Georgian politician, having served as Prime Minister of Georgia and Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia as well as Minister without Portfolio. Zhvania assumed premiership on 18 February 2004 and remained on the position until his death on 3 February 2005...
.
Prime minister
President Mikhail Saakashvili nominated Noghaideli for the post of Prime Minister on 11 February 2005 following the untimely death of Zhvania. He was confirmed by the Georgian Parliament on 17 February 2005 by a vote of 175 to 24, and was sworn in immediately. Noghaideli is not a member of any party and is regarded as a technocratTechnocracy (bureaucratic)
Technocracy is a form of government where technical experts are in control of decision making in their respective fields. Economists, engineers, scientists, health professionals, and those who have knowledge, expertise or skills would compose the governing body...
with a tough approach to the corruption that plagues Georgia's economy.
According to Financial weekly Georgian newspaper The World Bank Group and the U.S. Agency for International Development has honored Zurab Nogaideli, Prime Minister of Georgia, as top business environment reformer of the year 2007. The Prime Minister has led reforms which have catapulted Georgia from a ranking of 112 to 37th place in the World Bank Group’s 2007 global rankings on the regulatory ease of doing business.
Noghaideli is married and has one child.
Resignation
Noghaideli announced his resignation on 16 November 2007 due to his poor health condition. In April 2007, Noghaideli underwent elective open-heart surgery at St. Luke's Episcopal HospitalSt. Luke's Episcopal Hospital
St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital serves as the lead hospital for St. Luke's Episcopal Health System, and is based at the Texas Medical Center in Houston. St. Luke's Episcopal Health System also includes St. Luke's Episcopal Health Charities, St. Luke's The Woodlands Hospital, St. Luke's Sugar Land...
in Houston, U.S. The operation, led by leading US surgeon
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
Dr. Charles Frazier, lasted for 8 hours and involved transplanting one mitral valve
Mitral valve
The mitral valve is a dual-flap valve in the heart that lies between the left atrium and the left ventricle...
of the PM's heart.
After his resignation, Noghaideli said he would retire from politics and later joined the Kala Capital company - owned by the soccer star Kakha Kaladze - as its chairman. Since June 2008, he has also been a chairman of the International School of Economics at Tbilisi State University
International School of Economics at Tbilisi State University
The International School of Economics at Tbilisi State University is a graduate school of economics in Tbilisi in Georgia and an autonomous part of Tbilisi State University. The school was established in 2006 and offers a two-year master's program in economics, modeled after similar programs in...
Business Council.
Opposition
After the Russian-Georgian war2008 South Ossetia war
The 2008 South Ossetia War or Russo-Georgian War was an armed conflict in August 2008 between Georgia on one side, and Russia and separatist governments of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on the other....
, in September 2008, Noghaideli appeared in the Georgian press, unleashing heavy criticism of foreign and domestic policies of Mikheil Saakashvili. On 3 December 2008, he set up a new opposition party, the Movement for Fair Georgia.
In 2009, Noghaideli traveled several times in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, meeting top Russian officials, including Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Russia
The Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation The use of the term "Prime Minister" is strictly informal and is not allowed for by the Russian Constitution and other laws....
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
(23 December 2009). In December 2009, he also met Eduard Kokoity
Eduard Kokoity
Eduard Dzhabeyevich Kokoity is the de facto President of South Ossetia.-Early life:Eduard Kokoity was born on 31 October 1964 in Tskhinvali, in the Georgian SSR, a part of the Soviet Union at the time. Kokoity was a member, and champion, of the Soviet Union's national wrestling team...
, the breakaway South Ossetia
South Ossetia
South Ossetia or Tskhinvali Region is a disputed region and partly recognized state in the South Caucasus, located in the territory of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the former Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic....
n leader, ostensibly to help release of the Georgian teenagers detained by the South Ossetian milita. Noghaideli's rapprochement with Moscow met a negative outcry in the Georgian government. President Saakashvili described Noghaideli's Russian stance as a "sin".