President of Georgia Nominates Candidate for New NBG Board Member Position

TBILISI - Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili nominated former International Monetary Fund (IMF) senior economist Koba Gvenetadze to be the seventh board member of the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) on February 11. A place on the NBG Board become vacant at the end of February after the National Bank president Giorgi Kadagidze’s expiration of term of tenure. The Parliament of Georgia has yet to confirm its final decision regarding this nomination.

Representatives of the Parliament are in no hurry to announce their decision, though it has been said they highly appreciate Gvenetadze’s qualifications. “The President of Georgia has an exclusive opportunity to propose a candidate for membership on the board. We will take his candidate of choice into consideration,” said Parliament Chairman, David Usupashvili.

President Margvelashvili considered Gvenetadze along with Maia Melikidze and Giorgi Bakradze. Experts and non-governmental organizations chose these three candidates according to pre-agreed criteria, such as vocational education, professional qualifications, and political impartiality. The selection process included consultation with experts and the electronic process of assigning points.

Gvenetadze himself currently works as an economic adviser at Galt and Taggart, which established itself as Georgia’s leading investment banking and investment management services company. Moreover, he has an interesting professional background, having held various posts in the Georgian Government including as Deputy Finance Minister and Deputy State Minister, as well as enior economist at the IMF and the NBG.

“Koba Gvenetadze is a high-level professional. He has extensive experience in the financial sector and the economy,” said Head of the Presidential Administration, Giorgi Abashishvili. “It is important that a new member of the board promptly assumed his duties, as such the President of Georgia named the candidate in good time,” he added.

Current President of the NBG, Giorgi Kadagidze, will leave his post and consequently make vacant one further position on the board on February 25. The Parliament of Georgia must choose who will become its new seventh member after which, representatives of the board will choose the future NBG president themselves.

Eka Karsaulidze