Zurab Nogaideli ( ka, ზურაბ ნოღაიდელი) (born 22 October 1964) 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 ...
businessman and a politician who served as the
Prime Minister of Georgia
The prime minister of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პრემიერ-მინისტრი, tr) is the head of government and chief executive of Georgia.
In Georgia, the president is a ceremonial head of state and mai ...
from February 2005 until he resigned, citing health problems, on 16 November 2007. In December 2008, Nogaideli withdrew into opposition, setting up the
Movement for a Fair Georgia party.
[Ex-PM Nogaideli Sets Up Party](_blank)
"Civil Georgia
''Civil Georgia'' ( ka, სივილ ჯორჯია) is a Tbilisi-based free daily news website run by Georgian NGO UN Association of Georgia. It is supported by USAID, Friedrich Ebert Foundation and Swiss Agency for Development and Coop ...
". 3 December 2008
Early life and career
Born in
Kobuleti
Kobuleti ( ka, ქობულეთი ) is a town in Adjara, western Georgia, situated on the eastern coast of the Black Sea. It is the seat of Kobuleti Municipality and a seaside resort, visited annually by Georgians and many former Soviet Union ...
,
Ajaria
Adjara ( ka, აჭარა ''Ach’ara'' ) or Achara, officially known as the Autonomous Republic of Adjara ( ka, აჭარის ავტონომიური რესპუბლიკა ''Ach’aris Avt’onomiuri Resp’ublik’a'' ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
, Nogaideli graduated from the
Moscow State University
M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...
with a diploma in
Physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
in 1988. Before entering into national politics, he worked for the ''Institute of
Geography
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...
'' of the
Georgian Academy of Sciences
The Georgian National Academy of Sciences (GNAS) ( ka, საქართველოს მეცნიერებათა ეროვნული აკადემია, tr) is a main learned society of the Georgia. It was named Georgian S ...
between 1988-1992. In 1989-1990, he was also trained at the Institute of
Geology
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...
of the
Academy of Sciences of Estonia.
Parliament
He started his political career together with his friend,
Zurab Zhvania
Zurab Zhvania ( ka, ზურაბ ჟვანია; 9 December 1963 – 3 February 2005) was a Georgian politician, who served as Prime Minister of Georgia and Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia.
Zhvania began his political career ...
, in the
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...
of Georgia in early 1990s. Nogaideli became a deputy in the
Parliament of Georgia
The Parliament of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პარლამენტი, tr) is the supreme national legislature of Georgia. It is a unicameral parliament, currently consisting of 150 members; of these, 120 are proporti ...
in 1992, elected following the overthrow of President
Zviad Gamsakhurdia
Zviad Konstantines dze Gamsakhurdia ( ka, ზვიად გამსახურდია, tr; russian: Звиа́д Константи́нович Гамсаху́рдия, Zviad Konstantinovich Gamsakhurdiya; 31 March 1939 – 31 December 1 ...
, 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 Shevardnadze
Eduard Ambrosis dze Shevardnadze ( ka, ედუარდ ამბროსის ძე შევარდნაძე}, romanized: ; 25 January 1928 – 7 July 2014) was a Soviet and Georgian politician and diplomat who governed Georgia fo ...
in the capacity of
Minister of Finance
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
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 ( ka, მიხეილ სააკაშვილი ; uk, Міхеіл Саакашвілі ; born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist. and proved to be quite an effective minister.
In 2001, he left the President-run
Union of Citizens 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 ...
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
The Rose Revolution or Revolution of Roses ( ka, ვარდების რევოლუცია, tr) was a nonviolent change of power that occurred in Georgia in November 2003. The event was brought about by widespread protests over the ...
of 21–23 November 2003, Nogaideli returned to government as the economic adviser to the acting president,
Nino Burjanadze
Nino Burjanadze ( Georgian: ნინო ბურჯანაძე , also romanized Burdzhanadze or Burdjanadze, born 16 July 1964) is a Georgian politician and lawyer who served as Chairperson of the Parliament of Georgia from November 2001 ...
. 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 ( ka, ზურაბ ჟვანია; 9 December 1963 – 3 February 2005) was a Georgian politician, who served as Prime Minister of Georgia and Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia.
Zhvania began his political career ...
.
Prime minister
President
Mikhail Saakashvili nominated Nogaideli 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. Nogaideli is not a member of any party and is regarded as a
technocrat 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.
Nogaideli is married with one son.
Resignation
Nogaideli announced his resignation on 16 November 2007 due to his poor health condition. In April 2007, Nogaideli underwent elective
open-heart surgery at
St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital
Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center (BSLMC) is the private adult teaching hospital of Baylor College of Medicine jointly owned with CHI St. Luke's Health. The medical staff at the hospital includes full-time Baylor faculty, as well as community ph ...
in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...
, 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, Nogaideli said he would retire from politics and later joined the Kala Capital company - owned by the soccer star
Kakha Kaladze
Kakhaber "Kakha" Kaladze ( ka, კახაბერ (კახა) კალაძე, ; born 27 February 1978) is a Georgian politician and former footballer who serves as the Mayor of Tbilisi since November 2017. A versatile player, he was ...
- as its chairman.
Since June 2008, he has also been a chairman of the
Business Council.
Opposition
After the
Russian-Georgian war, in September 2008, Nogaideli 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
Movement may refer to:
Common uses
* Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece
* Motion, commonly referred to as movement
Arts, entertainment, and media
Literature
* "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy F ...
.
In 2009, Nogaideli traveled several times in
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
, meeting top Russian officials, including
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 i ...
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
(23 December 2009). In December 2009, he also met
Eduard Kokoity
Eduard Dzhabeyevich Kokoyty ( os, Кокойты Джабейы фырт Эдуард, Kokojty Ĝabejy fyrt Edward; born 31 October 1964) is an Ossetian politician who served as President of the partially recognized state of South Ossetia. His t ...
, the breakaway
South Ossetia
South Ossetia, ka, სამხრეთი ოსეთი, ( , ), officially the Republic of South Ossetia – the State of Alania, is a partially recognised landlocked state in the South Caucasus. It has an officially stated populat ...
n leader, ostensibly to help release of the Georgian teenagers detained by the South Ossetian military. Nogaideli's rapprochement with Moscow met with a negative response from the Georgian government. President Saakashvili described Nogaideli's Russian stance as a "sin".
Saakashvili: ‘Local Elections Huge Test’
''Civil Georgia''. 26 December 2009
References
Official biography for Zurab Nogaideli at National Security Council of Georgia website
Government of Georgia website (Georgian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nogaideli, Zurab
1964 births
Living people
People from Kobuleti
Green Party of Georgia politicians
Union of Citizens of Georgia politicians
Prime Ministers of Georgia
Finance ministers of Georgia
Members of the Parliament of Georgia
Businesspeople from Georgia (country)
Moscow State University alumni
Recipients of St. George's Order of Victory
21st-century politicians from Georgia (country)