Grigol Mgaloblishvili (; born 7 October 1973) is a Georgian politician and diplomat who has been Georgia's Permanent Representative to NATO from 26 June 2009 to 2013. He briefly served as the prime minister of Georgia from 1 November 2008 to 6 February 2009.New Ambassadors to NATO, Armenia Approved. Civil Georgia. 26 June 2009
Early life Grigol Mgaloblishvili was born in Tbilisi, the capital of the then-Soviet Georgia, to an academic family.http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insightb/articles/eav103008a.shtml He served as the Georgian Ambassador to Turkey until 27 October 2008 when President Mikheil Saakashvili proposed him for the position of the Prime Minister of Georgia to the Parliament of Georgia. Besides his native Georgian, he speaks English, Turkish, Russian and German.Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. Mission of Georgia to NATO: Biography of Head of Mission Grigol Mgaloblishvili. 2011-04-10. ([URL:http://nato.mfa.gov.ge/index.php?lang_id=ENG&sec_id=164]). Accessed: 2011-04-10. (Archived by WebCite®)
Prime minister
Mgaloblishvili was approved as the Prime Minister on 1 November 2008.
In December 2008, Russian media widely picked up a report by Georgia's tabloid Alia claiming that an incident occurred between Mgaloblishvili and Saakashvili in which the latter allegedly punched Mgaloblishvili and threw a telephone at him. The story did not explain what provoked the president.Georgia President Saakashvili 'punched' prime minister in the face. The Daily Telegraph. 2008-12-26 Shortly afterwards, Mgaloblishvili left for Germany for a medical examination. Returning to Georgia, he called the "hype and rumors" ridiculous.PM Back on Work, Responds on Press Reports. Civil Georgia. 12 January 2009 President Saakashvili also responded to the rumors, saying that after Mgaloblishvili's return "Russian will calm down and focus more on global issues."Saakashvili on PM’s Media Speculation. Civil Georgia. 13 January 2009
On 30 January 2009, during a press conference, Mgaloblishvili announced his resignation citing health problems and saying that he had suggested the President to consider nominating Nika Gilauri, the finance minister and first vice premier, for the prime minister's position.PM Mgaloblishvili Resigns. Civil Georgia. 30 January 2009
Ambassador to NATO On 26 June 2009, Mgaloblishvili was approved by the Parliament of Georgia as the country's Permanent Representative to NATO. He served until 2013.
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