Nikoloz "Niko" Lekishvili ( ka, ნიკოლოზ ��იკოლეკიშვილი; born 20 April 1947) is a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

politician, former

State Minister (Georgia) State Minister ( ka, სახელმწიფო მინისტრი, tr) is a position in the Government of Georgia, which can be introduced by a special law in order to oversee the government's tasks of particular importance. There can be ...

and

Mayor of Tbilisi The Mayor of Tbilisi is an elected politician in Tbilisi. Before 2005 the mayors used to be appointed by the central government. In 2006 first mayoral elections were held in the history of the Republic of Georgia. The first elected mayor of Tbilisi ...

, member of the Parliament of Georgia.

Early years

Lekishvili was born on 20 April 1947 in Tbilisi, Georgia. He graduated from Georgian Polytechnic Institute with a degree in Heat and Energy Engineering (High Temperature Physics) in 1971. He then started working for the same institute as a scientific associate and senior scientific associate of the High Temperature Physics Department from 1971 through 1972. In 1972-1973, he was the instructor of Tbilisi City Komsomol Committee. In 1973-1974, he was the secretary and then the first secretary of the Pervomaysky District Komsomol Committee in Tbilisi. From 1974 through 1977, he worked as the secretary and the first secretary of Tbilisi City Komsomol Committee. Starting from 1977 until 1990, he held supervisory positions in Georgia's Communist Party and Soviet government bodies, serving as the second and the first secretary of the Party Committee of Pervomaysky District and then as the district's Chairman of the Executive Committee from 1977 through 1989, and as second and first secretary of the Party Committee from 1989 through 1990. In the midst of his governmental activities, he also graduated from Moscow Economy Academy in 1988. At the end of 1990, Lekishvili founded ''Galo G.M. Co Ltd'', merging it with ''Kavkasioni Co Ltd'' in 1991, which was then restructured and incorporated into ''Coca Cola Bottlers, Georgia''. In 1994, Lekishvili family took control of the management of the company.

Political career

In 1990, Lekishvili was elected the Chairman of the City Executive Committee of Tbilisi and in 1990-1991 served as the Deputy Chairman of

Supreme Council of Georgia The Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს რესპუბლიკის უზენაესი საბჭო, ''sakartvelos respublikis uzenaesi sabcho'') was the highest unicameral legislative bo ...

. From January through November 1992, he served as the State Advisor to the

Cabinet of Georgia , border = , image = , image_size=200px , alt= , image2 = , image_size2 = , alt2 = , caption = Coat of arms , date_established = , date_dissolved = , state = , country = , polity = , leader_title = Prime Minister , appoi ...

. He was then elected deputy to the Parliament of Georgia during 1992 parliamentary elections, serving as an MP until November 1995. From September until October 1993, he was the representative of the Prime Minister of Georgia. In October 1993, he was appointed Mayor of Tbilisi. On 8 December 1995 he was appointed Prime Minister of Georgia by President Eduard Shevardnadze. As a result of criticism by the government over economic policies and the issue of

Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which vi ...

, Lekishvili resigned from his post on 26 July 1998. Lekishvili was then re-elected to the parliament and was a member of Regional Politics and Local Government Committee. He was the leader of ''Majority'' coalition in the parliament since 1999 and one of the leaders of

Citizen's Union of Georgia The Union of Citizens of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს მოქალაქეთა კავშირი) (also known as the Citizens' Union of Georgia or Georgian Citizens' Union) was a centre-left political party established ...

. Until late 2004, he chaired the Economic Policy Committee of the parliament. After the Rose Revolution in 2004, Lekishvili left the parliament. Lekishvili is married and has two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lekishvili, Nikoloz Government ministers of Georgia (country) Members of the Parliament of Georgia 1947 births Living people Mayors of Tbilisi Plekhanov Russian University of Economics alumni 20th-century politicians from Georgia (country) Georgian Technical University alumni