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Kakha Bendukidze (Georgian: კახა ბენდუქიძე,Russian: Каха Автандилович Бендукидзе, Kakha Avtandilovich Bendukidze) (born April 20, 1956 in Tbilisi) is a Georgian politician and former businessman in Russia. He served as Head of the Chancellery of Government of Georgia from January 31, 2008 to 6 February 2009.

[edit] Studies

Bendukidze graduated from the Department of Biology of Tbilisi State University in 1977 and from the Postgraduate School of the Moscow State University in 1980. From 1981 to 1985, he worked for the Institute of Biology and Physiology of Microorganisms in Puschino. From 1985 to 1988, he worked as the head of the Laboratory for Molecular Genetics at Institute of Biotechnology.

[edit] Russian businessman

With the onset of Perestroika, he organized a small business called Bioprocess. In 1993, during the Voucher privatization, campaign he bought stock in Uralmash. Bendukidze became a board member, and later, Director-General of this company. After merging Uralmash with Izhora Plants in 1996, he became Chairman and CEO (Director-General) of the merged company, Objedinennie Mashinostroitelnie Zavody (OMZ). In early 2004 Bendukidze withdrew from active management of the company.

[edit] Georgian politician

Bendukidze returned to Georgia after the Rose Revolution victory. In March 2004, he left the position of Chairman of the Objedinennie Mashinostroitelnie Zavody and later sold his interest in the company. On June 2, 2004, he became Minister for Economics of Georgia. From December 14, 2004 to January 31, 2008, he was State Minister on reforms coordination, coordinating government efforts to improve the economy.

The Economist said of Bendukidze: "Mr Bendukidze made his name and fortune as an industrialist in neighboring Russia, putting together the country's biggest heavy-engineering group, OMZ, before returning to his native Georgia in June of this year with a mandate to reverse more than a decade of post-Soviet decay. He insists that he was taken by surprise when Georgia's president, Mikhail Saakashvili, and prime minister, Zurab Zhvania, nobbled him for a chat in the course of a private visit he made to Tbilisi in May, and then offered him a ministerial job the same evening. But having said yes, he is cracking ahead, doing everything that businessmen must dream of making governments do. He says that Georgia should be ready to sell 'everything that can be sold, except its conscience, and that is just the start.'"

He is known as a strong supporter of market economy, deregulation and privatization, stating that the Georgian government should sell everything except its honor. During 2004-2007, under his leadership, Georgia became the top-reforming country in the world, according to the World Bank's Doing Business report. In particular, Georgia jumped from 137 to 18 on the ease of doing business scale, ahead of Germany and France.

In the January 2008 cabinet reshuffle, he became Head of the State Chancellery. During his tenure, he was considered one of the most influential Georgian politicians^[1], although he was also much hated by opposition in the administration. He was criticized for repealing anti-monopoly legislation and introducing a controversial labor code. The opposition accused him of trying to sell off each of Georgia’s strategic assets, such as sea ports, entire railway system, gas supply network, forests, etc. Many of those assets went to Russian businessmen. He appeared to promote a pro-western political orientation but a Russian-oriented economy. Bendukidze is notorious for insulting language. At a cabinet meeting, he called Energy Minister Nika Gilauri (the current Prime Minister) an imbecile^[2] On February 7, 2009 he was removed as Head of the State Chancellery^[1], which David Kereslidze took over on February 17.^[3].

[edit] References

• Curriculum vitae
• Interview and biography (Russian)
• BBC: 'Russian tycoon to reform Georgia'
• The Economist: 'A different sort of oligarch'
• How to Cut 909 Licenses to 159
• OMZ official site
• Bendukidze giving a speech about economic reform in Georgia at the Cato Institute