Board of National Bank of Georgia updated

TBILISI. Feb 7 (Interfax) - Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili has appointed Natia Turnava as president of the National Bank of Georgia (NBG), the NBG said in a press release.

Turnava has held the positions of First Vice President and Acting President of the NBG since June 2023, and she has been a member of the NBG management board since June 2022.

Turnava holds a PhD in Economics from Tbilisi State University and an MBA from the University of Cumbria, UK. She studied at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, the Joint Vienna Institute, and other institutions. She has taught at several higher education institutions in Tbilisi.

Before joining the NBG Board, Turnava served as the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia. She also served as Deputy Executive Director of the Public Partnership Fund, CEO and Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Georgian International Energy Corporation LLC.

The press release also reported that the Georgian Parliament approved four members of the NBG Board who were nominated by the President: Vakhtang Burkiashvili, Levan Dzneladze, Nino Dzheladze and Otar Shamugia.

"All four new members of the NBG Board have many years of experience in the public and private sectors, including finance and banking. Three members of the Board previously headed various departments of the National Bank of Georgia for several years, and Otar Shamugia joined the Board of the National Bank of Georgia after many years of work in the Ministry of Agriculture," according to the statement.

The members of the NBG Board are elected by parliament for a seven-year term upon the nomination of the president of Georgia. Currently, the board consists of nine members.