Ilia Darchiashvili ( ka, ილია დარჩიაშვილი; born 21 February 1981) is a Georgian government official, diplomat, and a former bank manager, serving as the

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს საგარეო საქმეთა მინისტრი) is the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, the governmental body of Georgia r ...

since 4 April 2022.

Education and early career

Born in

Sighnaghi Signagi or Sighnaghi ( ka, სიღნაღი) is a town in Georgia's easternmost region of Kakheti and the administrative center of the Signagi Municipality. Although it is one of Georgia's smallest towns, Signagi serves as a popular tourist ...

in then-

Soviet Georgia The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц� ...

, Darchiashvili graduated from the

Tbilisi State University Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University ( ka, ივანე ჯავახიშვილის სახელობის თბილისის სახელმწიფო უნივერსიტეტი ''Ivane Javaxishvi ...

(TSU) with a degree in economics in 2002. He further obtained master's degrees in economics and business administration from the TSU in 2004 and

Grenoble School of Management Grenoble Ecole de Management (GEM) is a French graduate business school (Grande Ecole) renowned for its teaching in innovation and management. The consular institution was founded in 1984 in Grenoble, in the Auvergne-Rhone Alpes region, by the ...

, France, in 2011, respectively. Darchiashvili worked as a manager for the Bank Republic/

Société Générale Société Générale S.A. (), colloquially known in English as SocGen (), is a French-based multinational financial services company founded in 1864, registered in downtown Paris and headquartered nearby in La Défense. Société Générale ...

in Tbilisi from 2003 to 2012, when he joined the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , type=Ministry , seal= Seal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia.png , seal_width = , seal_caption = Logo of the Georgian MFA , image = Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia.png , image_size= ...

as a staff member of the Embassy of Georgia to Poland. In 2014, Darchiashvili became Deputy Director of the state-run Municipal Development Fund during the first tenure of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier 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. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Irakli Garibashvili Irakli Garibashvili ( ka, ირაკლი ღარიბაშვილი, also transliterated as Gharibashvili; born 28 June 1982) is a Georgian politician and a former business executive who serves as the prime minister of Georgia since 22 ...

and, next year, he was promoted as its Director. In the same year, he was moved to the position of First Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure. He then was Ambassador-at-large at the Foreign Ministry from 2016 to 2017. He served as Georgia's Ambassador to Poland from 2017 to 2021. Shortly after Irakli Garibashvili's return as Prime Minister, Darchiashvili became Head of the Administration of the Government of Georgia in March 2021.

Foreign Minister

On 4 April 2022, Prime Minister Garibashvili appointed him

after the predecessor,

David Zalkaliani David Zalkaliani ( ka, დავით ზალკალიანი; born 27 February 1968) is a Georgian career diplomat serving as the Ambassador of Georgia to the United States. From June 21, 2018 to April 4, 2022 he served as the Minister ...

stepped down to become Georgia's ambassador to the United States. Darchiashvili's appointment occurred during an unease in the relations with Ukraine caused by the refusal by the Georgian government to join

international sanctions International sanctions are political and economic decisions that are part of diplomatic efforts by countries, multilateral or regional organizations against states or organizations either to protect national security interests, or to protect in ...

against Russia amid the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

. Ukrainian Foreign Minister

Dmytro Kuleba Dmytro Ivanovych Kuleba ( uk, Дмитро Іванович Кулеба; born 19 April 1981) is a Ukrainian politician, diplomat, and communications specialist, currently serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs. He is also concurrently a member ...

said he was "looking forward" to working together with the newly appointed Georgian counterpart. In his ministerial capacity, Darchiashvili's first visit was to

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

for the Meeting of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

Ministers of Foreign Affairs on 6 April 2022.

Ranks and awards

Ilia Darchiashvili holds the

diplomatic rank Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seating ...

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Darchiashvili, Ilia 1981 births Foreign Ministers of Georgia Ambassadors of Georgia (country) to Poland Tbilisi State University alumni People from Kakheti Living people