Mamuka Merkviladze has been appointed as the head of the Georgian interests section at the Swiss Embassy in Russia, replacing Giorgi Kajaia, who has become the special representative of the Prime Minister of Georgia for relations with Russia.
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Mamuka Merkviladze is the vice president of the Georgian Diaspora in Russia. In October 2021, he participated in a meeting of heads of Georgian diaspora associations in Moscow, Russia, where a decision was made to send an appeal to the governments of Russia and Georgia regarding the restoration of direct air traffic between the two countries.
Mamuka Merkviladze's wife, Tamriko Dudunia, is a Russian singer of Georgian origin. In 2019, she became the winner of the vocal competition New Star. Since 2015, the competition has been held at the initiative of the Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation, General Sergei Shoigu. Tamriko Dudunia, who represented the Smolensk region in the competition, was awarded by Shoigu.
Mamuka Merkviladze owns a 35% share in Canyon 350 LLC, which in November 2022 received a significant portion of Baldi Canyon, 24 130 square meters, from the Agency of Protected Areas of Georgia in Martvili Municipality, for 40 years, to develop tourist infrastructure. The local population, unaware of the government's decision, has been opposing the project for months and demands its cancellation.
Merkviladze is also the co-founder of Poti Transterminal, a Georgian-Kazakh joint venture. The agreement between the Kazakh company PTC Holding LLP and Georgian partners, which entails the implementation of the multimodal terminal construction project in the city of Poti, was signed in June 2023.
Mamuka Merkviladze was the director of GR Logistics & Terminals, a subsidiary of Georgian Railways, which, under the terms of the contract, handed over 800 wagons to the Russian company without an auction.
“Mr. Merkviladze is a very experienced person, and we are sure that with his efforts, he will fulfill the rights and duties assigned to him, so to speak. I am sure that his experience will help him in this. I don't know what facts you are talking about. These are your assessments, your interpretations. What biography are you talking about? I don't know. This is your assessment. I don't follow you in this assessment,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ilia Darchiashvili, in response to the journalist's question regarding Mamuka Merkviladze's Russian connections.
The former special representative of the Prime Minister for relations with Russia also answered the question of whether the right candidate was selected for the position of the head of the Georgian interests section. He does not know Mamuka Merkviladze personally, Zurab Abashidze says.
“The prerogative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to select heads of diplomatic missions. I hope that he [Mamuka Merkviladze] will successfully fulfill the functions assigned to him,” Abashidze noted.
According to the Georgian diaspora in Russia, Mamuka Merkviladze is already in Moscow.
Diplomatic relations between Georgia and Russia have been severed. This decision was taken by the Georgian authorities on September 2, 2008, due to the military aggression carried out by Russia in August and the so-called independence of the occupied regions of Georgia. The section of interests of the Russian Federation in the Embassy of Switzerland in Georgia, and the section of interests of Georgia in the Embassy of Switzerland in the Russian Federation, has been working since March 2009.
