Saakashvili names new Georgian PM

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has sacked his reformist prime minister, saying the country needs “new energy” to tackle fresh challenges after its fruitless war with Russia in August.

After a year in office Lado Gurgenidze, a former banker, says he is confident Georgia will continue to implement liberal economic policies. He says his removal was a “joint consensual decision”, and Saakashvili reminded observers that the appointment had just been for a year in any case, at Gurgenidze’s request.

The new prime minister is 33 year-old Grigol Mgaloblishvili, Oxford educated, and the current ambassador to Turkey.

Healthy economic growth in recent years has been rocked by the military defeat and the global financial crisis, and investor confidence in Georgia has tumbled.

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