Tornike Rizhvadze resigns as head of the Autonomous Government of Adjara

Tornike Rizhvadze has resigned from the position of head of the Autonomous Government of Adjara via a Facebook post.

In his post published on Friday, Rizhvadze did not provide any reasons for his decision to resign, nor what he would do next.

‘This is my seventh year in this position. It is time for something new and I would like to wish the next chair success’, he wrote.

Rizhvadze additionally thanked Georgian Dream founder and billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili ‘for the opportunity to serve my [region]’. He also thanked Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and President Mikheil Kavelashvili.

‘I remain a loyal soldier of Georgian Dream and I am sure that many great victories lie ahead!’ he wrote.

Rizhvadze has been the Chair of the Government of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, which is in the extreme southwest of the country and includes the city of Batumi, since July 2018.

Prior to that, Rizhvadze was Georgia’s Deputy Minister of Energy, as well as the Director of the Georgian Energy Development Fund, while from 2014–16, he was an advisor to the Economic Council of the Government of Adjara on investment and economic issues.

From 2010–2011, he worked at the UN International Organisation for Migration as an Employer Relations Coordinator.

In 2022, following Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine, Rizhvadze came under fire for failing to answer a TV Pirveli's reporter’s question about who he thought had started the war in Ukraine, to which he replied, ‘you should ask experts in this field. I wish Ukrainians an end to this war very soon’.

In March that year, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, one of the top universities in the country, denounced Rizhvadze, claiming that he dropped out of his doctoral programme despite his CV saying otherwise.

Myrotvorets, a Kyiv-based watchdog that publishes information to single out individuals it deems to be pro-Russian, declared Rizhvadze a supporter of Russian war criminals, a denier of the invasion of Ukraine, and a participant in acts of humanitarian aggression against Ukraine.

Rizhvadze was also heavily criticised by Georgian opposition groups, with some calling him ‘dumb’ and accusing him of making ‘traitorous statements’.

In 2023, while presenting a government report to the Supreme Council of Adjara, Rizhvadze called the 2008 August War ‘a cowardly defeat’, drawing additional criticism.

Changes in the government

The Chair of the Supreme Council of Adjara, Davit Gabaidze, told IPN that President Kavelashvili will hold consultations with the Supreme Council of Adjara to approve a new Chair of the Government of Adjara.

According to opposition aligned TV channel Mtavari, ‘Rizhvadze will be replaced as head of the Adjara government by the head of Tbilisi police, Sulkhan Tamazashvili, who is sanctioned by the West’.

In December, the UK, in a coordinated action with the US, sanctioned five senior individuals in Georgia’s Interior Ministry, including Tamazashvili, who they claimed were ‘responsible for violent attacks against journalists and peaceful protestors in Georgia’.

Besides Tamazashvili, those sanctioned were Minister of Internal Affairs Vakhtang Gomelauri,  Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Aleksandre Darakhvelidze,Zviad Kharazishvili, Head of the Special Tasks Department responsible for riot police, and Kharazishvili’s deputy Mileri Lagazauri.

‘[They] face UK travel bans and asset freezes, excluding them from the UK and its economy’, the statement read.

This is not the only government restructuring to occur in recent days.

On Wednesday, Kobakhidze announced that Grigol Liluashvili had left his position as head of State Security Service of Georgia (SSG) and would take up a new position as Minister of Regional Development. He would be replaced by Anri Okhanashvili, who previously held the post of Minister of Justice.

Kobakhidze also announced that Paata Salia, a member of the parliamentary majority, would be appointed to replace Okhanashvili as Justice Minister.