Georgia’s Foreign Ministry has been relocated to the former Presidential Palace in Tbilisi’s Avlabari district. The building was constructed during the term of now-imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili, and lost its original function after 2018.
The relocation was first reported by BMG. The ministry’s press service did not respond to media inquiries, including OC Media’s questions about the details of the process, but the government administration confirmed the move to local media.
According to BMG, the ministry’s relocation took place in March. The Government Administration told Netgazeti that only the consular department remains in the building where the ministry was previously based.
The ministry’s new home, long known as the Avlabari Residence, was officially opened in 2009. The ruling Georgian Dream party, which came to power in 2012, regarded the building with scepticism, due to its association with Saakashvili’s rule. Current Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze previously stated that the palace had been built with money ‘stolen from the people’.
Even so, Giorgi Margvelashvili, who became president in 2013 under the Georgian Dream banner, entered the palace, later explaining that his move was meant to demonstrate that the government could not dictate the president’s actions. The issue became one of the factors that strained relations between Georgian Dream and Margvelashvili.
The palace ultimately lost its presidential function in 2018, when Salome Zourabichvili became president. She instead worked from the historic palace on Atoneli Street, which remains the presidential residence to this day.
By government decision, since 2019, the Avlabari Residence has held the status of a State Ceremonial Palace, and it is periodically used for official state events.
