GIOC President Dismissed

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili dismissed Gia Chanturia, the President of the Georgian International Oil Corporation (GIOC), on September 9.
 
According to the decree of the President of Georgia, Gia Chanturia will also be deprived of the status of the President?s envoy granted by ex-President Eduard Shevardnadze, in the issues of development of oil and gas transportation systems.
 
Gia Chanturia held the position of the President of the Oil Corporation since 1995. He was in charge of negotiating and implementing construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipelines.
 
Neither the reasons for Chanturia?s dismissal, nor the name of his successor, are known so far.