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60th Program Year - Seventh Meeting

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Tanoan Country Club

The Global Financial Crisis and the Geopolitics of Russia, China and the Developed World—a Perspective from the Former Prime Minister of the Republic of Georgia

Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze

Vladimer "Lado" Gurgenidze is a Georgian politician and businessman, who served as the 17th Prime Minister of Georgia and, thus, the Head of the Government of Georgia. He took office on 22 November, 2007 after being invited by the President of Georgia to form a new government. Prior to this Gurgenidze served as the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Bank of Georgia. Gurgenidze served as the Prime Minister until 1 November, 2008 when the Parliament of Georgia approved Grigol Mgaloblishvili in the position of the Prime Minister. Gurgenidze is currently chairing a new commission, which is concentrated on stabilizing the financial sector.

Lado Gurgenidze was born in Tbilisi, Georgia. He holds dual citizenship of Georgia and of the United Kingdom. Gurgenidze graduated from the Tbilisi State University and Middlebury College as well as obtaining a MBA degree from the Goizueta Business School of Emory University. From 1997 to 1998, he served as the Director of ABN AMRO Corporate Finance in Russia and CIS. In 1998, he moved to London and served in various senior capacities at ABN AMRO Corporate Finance, including as a Managing Director and Head of Technology Corporate Finance (2001-2002) and as a Director and Head of Mergers and Acquisitions in the Emerging European Markets (1998-2000). In July 2003, he joined, as a Managing Director and Regional Manager Europe, Putnam Lovell NBF, a leading global boutique investment banking firm focusing on the financial services sector, wholly-owned by the National Bank of Canada.

After the 2003 Rose Revolution in Georgia, he returned to Tbilisi and worked as a Chief Executive Officer for the Bank of Georgia (BOG) from 2004 to 2006. In May 2006, he was elected a Chairman of the BOG Supervisory Board. He helped the BOG make significant progress and become one of Georgia's leading banks. Gurgenidze received a great deal of publicity in 2006 when he hosted a reality television show The Candidate on Rustavi 2, a Georgian version of Donald Trump's franchise The Apprentice. He is married to Larissa Gurgenidze and they have three children.