Georgia’s Environment Minister resigns
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Georgia’s Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection has resigned after having the post for less than a year.
Elguja Khokrishvili submitted his resignation letter to Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili today.
This came after the country’s Infrastructure Minister stepped down last week.
In his written statement released today, Khokrishvili said: "At this moment it is principally important” for him to be with his family, who currently lived abroad.
"There are moments when a difficult decision needs to be made,” Khokrishvili said.
"[But] this decision will enable me to consider interesting offers that will help me continue my professional career and live with my child.”
Khokrishvili said he had already spoken to Prime Minister Garibashvili about his decision and the PM respected his decision. He did not state which country he would be moving to, to join his family.
Khokrishvili, 42, was named by Garibashvili as the country’s Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection after a major reshuffle in the Georgian Government in July 2014.
He is known as a politician with a flair for foreign languages, and was reshuffled from his former role as the Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure.
Khokrishvili gained an international education that focused on economics and graduated with a Bachelor, Masters and Doctorate degrees from the University of Potsdam in Germany. He also has a passion for languages and can speak Russian, English and German.
He began his career abroad and worked at the University of Potsdam in many roles until 2010, when he moved to the Free University of Berlin and worked for a year as a project manager.
During this time he also worked as a consultant in the Team of Professionals for Programs and Education Development in Vancouver, Canada.
From 2011 he worked as an expert in the "Open Society – Georgia” fund and GOPA Consulting in Germany.
In 2012 he became a lecturer at Georgia’s Ilia State University and an Open Society Fund (OSF) expert.
Khokrishvili also worked as the head of the Municipal Development Fund (MDF) and the Municipality chairman of the Caucasian Institute for Economic and Social Research.
Meanwhile, during his most recent role as the Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure, his main challenge was overcoming the landslide disaster at Georgia’s Dariali Gorge.
At least three people died and several more remain missing following the landslide, which hit the Gorge in northern Georgia on May 17, 2014.