Giorgi Gakharia

Giorgi Gakharia (; born 19 March 1975) is a Georgian politician who served as the 14th Prime Minister of Georgia from 8 September 2019 until his resignation on 18 February 2021.

Education During 1992–1994, Gakharia studied at Tbilisi State University faculty of history. During 1994–1999, he studied at Moscow State University. He has a master's degree in political science. In 2002–2004, he studied at Moscow State University's Higher Business School, receiving a master's in business management. In 2006–2009, he was an invited lecturer in Applied Biotechnology at Moscow State University.

2019 Georgian protests

On 20 June 2019, Parliament of Georgia hosted the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy, an organization set up by the Greek parliament to unite Orthodox Christian lawmakers worldwide. With both Russia and Georgia being members of the organization, the Russian delegation arrived to take part in the session in the Georgian parliament. The session was opened with a speech in Russian from Sergei Gavrilov, a Russian lawmaker from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, whilst sitting in the chair of the Head of Parliament. The event provoked protests from a large part of the Georgian population, especially young Georgians.

A large rally was held in front of the parliament on the evening of 20 June demanding the resignation of the speaker of the parliament Irakli Kobakhidze and the Georgian Dream government, causing clashes.

Gakharia arrived in parliament on 8 September to respond to questions and gain support. The Georgian Dream party endorsed him, and he received approval with 98 votes on that same day.

Prime minister

Gakharia meeting with the United States Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, during the 2020 Munich Security Conference.

On 2 November 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Georgia, Gakharia tested positive for the virus.

Resignation

Gakharia's resigned suddenly on 18 February 2021, saying that he no longer agreed with the positions of Georgian Dream. The situation in the country at the time: Nika Melia, chairman of the United National Movement party, was accused of organizing mass violence during the anti-government protests in 2019. When Melia declined to pay a $12,000 bail, a Georgian court ruled that Melia should be detained before his trial. In response, Melia said the court's ruling was "unlawful", and on 18 February, Gakharia resigned over the decision to detain Melia. Melia was arrested while at United National Movement party headquarters on 23 February. The ruling Georgian Dream party supported Irakli Garibashvili to replace Gakharia, and the Parliament voted 89–2 to appoint him on 22 February.

Post-premiership Gakharia later became head of the political party For Georgia. In January 2025, he suffered a fractured nasal bone and a concussion after being attacked at a hotel in Batumi, which his party blamed on Georgian Dream and its leader Bidzina Ivanishvili.

In mid-2025, Gakharia left Georgia for Germany and was granted a residence permit there. In November 2025, Gakharia was charged in absentia over his actions as a minister of internal affairs: the excessive use of force against protesters during Gavrilov's Night and exceeding his official powers in the Chorchana-Tsnelisi case.

Electoral history ElectionAffiliationFirst roundSecond roundVotesPercentagePositionVotesPercentagePosition2020 Georgian parliamentary election Georgian Dream 928,004 1st 2021 Tbilisi mayoral elections For Georgia 45,257 3rd