Mamuka Khazaradze | |
|---|---|
მამუკა ხაზარაძე | |
 Khazaradze in 2013 | |
| Leader ofLelo for Georgia | |
| Assumed office 22 December 2019 | |
| Preceded by | position established |
| Member of theParliament of Georgia | |
| In office 11 December 2020 – 16 November 2021 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1966-12-29)29 December 1966 (age 58) Tbilisi, Georgia |
| Political party | Lelo for Georgia |
| Alma mater | Georgian Technical UniversityHarvard Business School |
| Profession | businessman |
Mamuka Khazaradze (Georgian:მამუკა ხაზარაძე; born 29 December 1966) is a Georgian politician and entrepreneur. He is the Chairman ofLelo for Georgia, a centrist political party, full member of theALDE Party in the European Union. Khazaradze co-founded the largest Georgian universal bank,[1] JSCTBC Bank in 1992.[2] He entered politics in 2019, becoming a Member of the Parliament of Georgia in the 2020 parliamentary elections.[3]
He graduated fromTbilisi Technical University in 1988 and also holds an executive degree fromHarvard Business School, where he studied during 1998–2000.[4] In 2014, Khazaradze was awarded EY Entrepreneur of the Year in Georgia – the first such award to a Georgian business.[5]
He was awarded thePresidential Order of Excellence in 2010.[6]
JSC TBC Bank completed its London Stock Exchange IPO in June 2014, raising US$256 million and listing 40% of the Bank's shares.[7] The IPO valued the Bank at US$640 million.[8] The Bank listed its UK-incorporated holding parent company, TBC Bank Group PLC on the Premium Segment of the London Stock Exchange in 2016[9] and joined the FTSE 250 index in 2017.[10]
In the 1990s and the early 2000s, Khazaradze was a member of Taxpayers Union, a pro-government business-backed NGO established in 1996. The Taxpayers Union had strong connections with the rulingUnion of Citizens of Georgia party, with its founderNiko Lekishvili being theState Minister from 1995 to 1998. Khazaradze also was a chairman of the NGO New Movement, which later became the basis for theNew Rights Party.[11] At some point, the Taxpayers Union turned against the government and on 2 April 2003 issued a statement condemning the government and the State MinisterAvtandil Jorbenadze for "ignoring the interests of business and for tolerating the use of media terror, blackmail and extortion against their opponents", threatening the use of the radical measures. Khazaradze was present at the meeting with other influential businessmen.[12]
In December 2019, Khazaradze together with other prominent Georgian politicians set upLelo for Georgia party that obtained four seats in the 2020 parliamentary elections and, along with a group of independent MPs created the first opposition faction in the2020 Parliament.[13] In 2024, the party run in the2024 Georgian parliamentary election as a part of theStrong Georgia coalition, which received 14 seats in the parliament, with 9 going to Lelo.[14]
Anaklia Port is a project to build a deep-sea port in Western Georgia, to accommodate very large vessels – the first of its kind in the region.[15] According to the research published by NATO Research Division, Georgia's strategic geographic location gives is vast potential to act as a key transit country facilitating high volumes of international trade between Europe and Asia.[16]
IDS Borjomi was founded in 1995 by Mamuka Khazaradze and his business partners, building on the Borjomi mineral waters brand that was well known throughout the Soviet Union.[17] IDS Borjomi Georgia now exports to over 40 countries worldwide.[18]
GZAAT is one of the first, private high-school providing Georgian students with world-class education co-founded in 2001 by Guivy Zaldastanishvili, with support from Mamuka Khazaradze and other Georgian entrepreneurs. In 2022 the school invited Keynote Speaker, Humanitarian, and TV and film producer Joy Ngoma, and the granddaughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu[19] Mamuka Khazaradze currently serves on the Board of Trustee of GZAAT.[20]
Chateau Mukhrani is an old royal Georgian winery that first exported Georgian wines 130 years ago. The modern company, Chateau Mukhrani was founded in 2002 by Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze and their business partners.[21]
A criminal charge was filed against Khazaradze and his business partner, alleging that they were involved inmoney-laundering, after he announced formation of Lelo for Georgia political movement. It was deemed as an attack on political pluralism in Georgia.[22] In 2022, the Tbilisi City Court found Mamuka Khazaradze, Badri Japaridze and Avtandil Tsereteli – initially charged with money-laundering – guilty offraud and sentenced them to seven years of prison. However, they were not subject to imprisonment as thestatute of limitations had already expired by the time of the ruling.[23]
Independent international expert, Pauline David, selected in open competition by Transparency International Georgia, concluded that there was ‘no basis to prove TBC Bank founders Khazaradze, Japaridze committed money laundering’[24]
The court's decision was deemed as unconstitutional by Georgia's top lawyers, since the prosecution service had never investigated fraud and no due process had been upheld in that regard. Therefore, the court intervened in the functions of the prosecution service by re-qualifying the charge to fraud.[25]
TheUS Department of State,ALDE Party,Amnesty International, majority of reputable Georgian NGOs all observed the existence of a possible political motivation behind the trial. As the US State Department's 2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices observed: "In a March 2019 interview with Imedi TV, Georgian Dream party chair Bidzina Ivanishvili accused Khazaradze of directing an assault against the government. July 2019 charges by the Prosecutor General’s Office came just weeks after Khazaradze’s announcement of his intent to establish a civil movement."[26]
On June 24, Khazaradze was sentended to eight months in jail, for failing to appear in front of anTsulukiani Commission as a part of the investigation. Other opposition leaders in Georgia had been similarly charged and sentenced.[27]
Khazaradze was released by presidential pardon ofMikheil Kavelashvili on 5 September 2025.[28]
The Taxpayers Union and the 'Selected Businessmen' This network refers to a group of businessmen, most of whom at one time or another belonged to Niko Lekishvili's Taxpayers' Union. The Taxpayers' Union was established in October 1996 as a pro-government businessbacked NGO to support Georgian businesses and entrepreneurship and Lekishvili was elected its president on 5 August 1998, shortly after his resignation as State Minister (see below). It is also believed to have provided financial support to the CUG during the 1999 parliamentary elections. Levan Gachechiladze (head of the wine producer GWS), Davit Gamkrelidze (head of the insurance company Aldagi), Lasha Dzidzava (president of 'Cartu' joint stock company), Temur Chkhonia (head of CocaCola), Mamuka Khazaradze (head of Tbilisi Business Centre), Irakli Iashvili (director of Georgian Trans Expedition Ltd.) and Davit Saganelidze (director of the company GHP) were all influential members of the Taxpayers' Union. The CUG invited several of these prominent businessmen onto their party list for the 1999 elections. Gachechiladze, Gamkrelidze, Iashvili and Saganelidze accepted the invitation. Critics claimed that they entered Parliament merely to lobby their own business interests.42 Once elected, they soon developed a strained relationship with the Chairman of the Parliament, Zurab Zhvania, and other so-called 'reformers' from within the CUG (see below). In September 2000, these four individuals together with several other deputies broke away from the CUG parliamentary faction to form their own parliamentary faction, which they called the 'New Faction'. They then founded a public organization, the New Movement, chaired by Mamuka Khazaradze, which was originally registered as an NGO. In June 2001 a new political party, the New Rights, was founded on the basis of the New Movement with Gachechiladze, Gamkrelidze and Irakli Batiashvili as chairmen.