At the board meeting of the National Bank of Georgia, the board members elected Natia Turnava as the first vice president by a majority vote. Until the appointment of the president of the National Bank, Turnava will perform the president’s duties.
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At the briefing held after the board meeting, Natia Turnava stated that she received the votes of 5 of the 7 members, while 2 abstained.
“Regardless, we are all united by our loyalty to the National Bank, we are united by the common goal of serving the country's financial stability, and our team at the National Bank will continue to work in this direction. It is a great honor for me that the Council supported me to fulfill this duty and to lead this institution in the absence of the President of the National Bank,” said Natia Turnava.
Prior to the election of Natia Turnava as the vice-president of the National Bank, amendments were made to the organic law “On the National Bank” on the initiative of Georgian Dream, as a result of which the position of the first vice-president was introduced in the board of the National Bank. The first vice president acts as the president of the National Bank in his absence.
President Salome Zurabishvili vetoed the law adopted by Georgian Dream, as she believed that the legislative changes would lead to gross interference in the governance of the constitutional body. After Zourabichvili refused to nominate acting Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili as one of the candidates for membership of the National Bank Council, Georgian Dream decided to override the veto. On June 13, Parliament overcame the veto by 82 votes to 9.
The position of the president of the National Bank has been vacant since March 2023, after the term of office of Koba Gvenetadze expired. Until now, one of the vice presidents - Archil Mestvirishvili - has been performing the duties of the president.
By law, the President of the National Bank is appointed and dismissed by the President of Georgia from among the members of the National Bank board on the recommendation of the National Bank board members.
The Parliament elected the former Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Natia Turnava to the position of a board member of the National Bank for a 7-year term on June 7, 2022. Salome Zourabichvili nominated her candidacy to the Parliament. Turnava was the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia from 2019-2022 and held the position of Deputy Minister from 2018-2019. From 2013-2018, she worked as the Deputy Executive Director of the state investment fund – “Partnership Fund”.
