Railway Chief to Lead Interim Commission to Run Adjara

In late night televised address to the Adjarian population on May 6 President Saakashvili said that special state commission has been set up to run Adjarian Autonomy during the interim period before the fresh elections in the region.

President Saakashvili is in Batumi and intends to stay there for three more days to personally supervise interim commission’s activity.

“I will personally chair the commission for several days and then chief of the [state-run] Railway Company Levan Varshalomidze will lead the state commission,” President Saakashvili said.

“He [Varshalomidze] is young, but he is a good professional in economic skills and this is what Adjara needs right now,” Mikheil Saakashvili said.

Levan Varshalomidze, 31, who is from Adjara by origin, was appointed as railway chief in January. Before appointment, together with Finance Minister Zurab Noghaideli, run the DVNK legal and financial consulting firm.

Georgian central government claims that that the local elections in Adjara will be held in June.