Our team

David Chkadua

David Chkadua

President of EPRC
David Chkadua

David Chkadua

President of EPRC

David is one of the founders of the Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC) and served as its executive director during 2002 – 2006. He holds a Master’s degree in mathematics from Tbilisi State University and a Master’s degree in Public Policy/Economic Modeling from GRIPS Tokyo, as well as a Master’s in Finance from the University of Amsterdam. David has led a number of EPRC’s research projects. He has been awarded research grants from EERC and WB for developing a CGE (Computable General Equilibrium) model for analyzing trade policies in Georgia. David is an author of a number of policy and research publications. Currently, David works in the banking industry as a Senior Quant in Market/Operational risk management.

Nino Evgenidze

Nino Evgenidze

Executive Director
Nino Evgenidze

Nino Evgenidze

Executive Director

Nino Evgenidze serves as an Executive Director at the Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC). She is a co-founder of the Tbilisi International Conference together with McCain Institute for International Leadership and Leadership Academy for Development with Stanford University Center for Democracy, Development, and Rule of law. Nino is also a co-founder of the Democracy Frontline Centre. Nino was a visiting scholar at John Hopkins University at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and a Stanford University Fellow in the CDDRL Program. She has a Master’s Degree in Economics from the London School of Economics (LSE). Nino has a Ph.D. in Literature from Tbilisi State University. She also holds MBA from Maastricht University and a Master’s Degree in Public Policy Management from Vienna University.

She worked as an anchor of the daily morning economic show at Radio Free Europe – Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). Nino has extensive experience both in working in governmental and non-governmental sectors – she was an advisor at the Center for Economic Reforms of the State Chancellery of Georgia (President Administration), Head of Public Outreach Department of the Anti-corruption Policy Coordination Council of Georgia. Nino is a Chairwoman of the board of first Child Hospice in Georgia.

Irina Guruli

Irina Guruli

Deputy Director
Irina Guruli

Irina Guruli

Deputy Director

Irina Guruli joined the Economic Policy Research Center’s (EPRC) team in 2011. She has 15 years of experience in working for non-governmental organizations and implementing projects financed by international donor organizations. At EPRC she is a deputy director and also responsible for the research direction of the organization. Irina is actively engaged in conducting research in the directions of economic policy, private sector development, SME policy, regulatory impact assessment, she has profound experience working on the issues of the EU Association Agreement and DCFTA. Prior to joining EPRC, she worked at CNFA Georgia a Millennium Challenge-funded project.

Since 2020 Irina is an Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship at Ilia State University, where she has been teaching since 2015 as a visiting lecturer. She delivers courses on entrepreneurship and international business. Irina holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration from Ilia State University, she is a graduate of Jonkoping International Business School in Sweden and holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration. Irina holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Tbilisi State University with a major in the English language. She is an alumnus of the U.S. State department financed Future Leaders Exchange Program and has acquired her high school diploma in Virginia, U.S.

Tamar Khorbaladze

Tamar Khorbaladze

Education Policy Lead
Tamar Khorbaladze

Tamar Khorbaladze

Education Policy Lead

Tamar Khorbaladze joined EPRC’s team in 2004. For several years she has served as a project expert and a coordinator in the organization. She has received her degree as a journalist from Tbilisi State University (TSU). Tamar participated in training courses held at Swedish Media Institute (FOJO), IMF institute in Vienna, 2010 Community Connections program in the USA. Starting from 1995 Tamar was engaged in active journalism – she worked as a reporter in newspapers Droni and 24 Saati, worked in the information service department at Public Broadcaster, Radio Mtsvane Talga.

She served as a correspondent, head of the economic department, executive producer, economic reviewer. Currently, in line with the EPRC projects, Tamar is pursuing an academic career – starting from 2010 she is lecturing Master degree students in Journalism at Ilia State University, and students at Tbilisi State University. At the same time, she is editor-in-chief of the scientific journal TSU Science at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University.

Lasha Dolidze

Lasha Dolidze

Senior Fellow
Lasha Dolidze

Lasha Dolidze

Senior Fellow

Lasha Dolidze joined EPRC’s team in 2006. Lasha is coordinating all EPRC research activities. He graduated from the Center for Development Economics of Williams College, the USA, with a degree of Master of Arts in Development Economics. Lasha worked as a Deputy Lead to the USAID-funded Economic Prosperity Initiative (EPI) Agriculture Sector Component (ASC). He worked as a Deputy Project Manager of the Agribusiness Development Activity funded by the Millennium Challenge Georgia, implemented by CNFA Georgia.

He also worked for the USAID-funded AgVantage Project as a head of the Agricultural Policy Unit and was in charge of the preparation of long term Agriculture Development Strategy for the Ministry of Food and Agriculture of Georgia. Lasha served as a state advisor at the Center of Economic reforms at the State Chancellery of Georgia and later he was transferred to the Secretariat of Foreign Investment Advisory Council under the president of Georgia as a national consultant and was in charge of overall donor coordination in Georgia.

Shota Ghvineria

Shota Ghvineria

Security Policy Lead
Shota Ghvineria

Shota Ghvineria

Security Policy Lead

Since September 2017 he also joined the Economic Policy Research Center. Before, since 2001 Shota Gvineria has been working on various positions in Georgia’s public sector. Among other positions Shota Gvineria served as the Deputy Secretary at the National Security Council of Georgia. Earlier, he covered NATO integration and security policy related issues as Ambassador at Large in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. In his previous capacity, he held the position of the Foreign Policy Advisor to the Minister of Defence of Georgia until August 2016.
From May 2010 till June 2014 he served as an Ambassador of Georgia to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Alongside with strengthening political, economic and cultural relations between Georgia and the Netherlands, Ambassador was also representing his country in international organizations based in The Hague. In 2010, Mr. Gvineria was promoted to the position of a Director of European Affairs Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. Prior to that mission, in 2008 – 2009, he served as a Head of NATO Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. In the period of April 2006 – October 2008, Mr. Gvineria was posted as a Councilor to the Georgian Mission to NATO.
In 2015 Mr. Gvineria obtained his Master’s degree in Strategic Security Studies at Washington’s National Defense University. He also earned his Master’s in International Relations from Diplomatic School of Madrid in 2005. Earlier he completed his Master’s in Public Administration at Georgian Technical University.
Giorgi Bakradze

Giorgi Bakradze

Senior Research Advisor
Giorgi Bakradze

Giorgi Bakradze

Senior Research Advisor

Giorgi Bakradze joined EPRC team in November 2014. Prior to EPRC he worked as a Senior Research Advisor at ISET Policy Institute. In 2003-2007 and since 2010 he has worked at the National Bank of Georgia, as a macroeconomics researcher, Head of Research Division and since May 2010 – as the advisor to the Governor of NBG on macroeconomic issues. He has obtained his MA in Economics from the Center of Development Economics at Williams College, MA in 2003. In 2007-2010 he studied at the graduate program in Economics at Georgetown University. Giorgi is also Master of Sciences in physics from Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (1996) and has attended numerous seminars and workshops for central bank employees (Bank of England, Swiss National Bank, Joint Vienna Institute, IMF Institute, etc.). Giorgi has an extensive experience in working in governmental sector and since 2012 has been active in non-governmental sector as well. At the same time he has experience in working in donor-funded projects, having started his career at the World Bank project for Development of Municipal Services in Tbilisi (1997-200). His interests go beyond economics as well – he is a well-respected participant of Georgian TV quiz-show and has achieved numerous local and international victories and awards.

Gigi Gigiadze

Gigi Gigiadze

Senior Fellow
Gigi Gigiadze

Gigi Gigiadze

Senior Fellow

Gigi Gigiadze joined the Economic Policy Research Center as Senior Fellow in March 2021. In 2001 he graduated from Georgian Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University with the Master’s Degree in international relations. Throughout different periods he studied in Germany and in 1999 as the recipient of the Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F.V.S. scholarship spent one academic year at the University of Hamburg where he studied political and social sciences.

As a career diplomat Gigi Gigiadze has 24 years of working experience at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. Since 2000 he held different positions at the Ministry’s European Affairs Department, where he was in charge of bilateral relations with the West European countries and later became the head of the same department.

Between 2014-2016 in the capacity of the Deputy Foreign Minister of Georgia, Gigi Gigiadze was in charge of the bilateral relations with the neighboring countries, European countries and the European Union. At the same time, he was chief negotiator of the Georgian side with the European Union on the Visa Liberalization Action Plan (VLAP).

During his extensive diplomatic career Gigi Gigiadze served in the Georgian diplomatic missions in Athens and Berlin, where he was in charge of political as well as consular issues. Until March 2021 Gigi Gigiadze was Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the Kingdom of Denmark and the Republic of Iceland with residence in Copenhagen.

Giorgi Ormotsadze

Giorgi Ormotsadze

Research Fellow
Giorgi Ormotsadze

Giorgi Ormotsadze

Research Fellow

Giorgi Ormotsadze is a MA Candidate of Social Science, specializing in the Baltic Sea Region studies at the University of Tartu. He has studied at the Charles University in Prague, and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Tbilisi State University. He has a valuable experience of working for both local and international think tanks and research organizations, including Estonian Institute of Human Rights, Baltic Journal, and Institute of International Relations Prague. Giorgi has also produced and published a number of articles and policy papers. His research and professional interests include European integration, political and economic developments in the Baltic Sea Region, Eastern Partnership and Russia’s soft power.

Zaza Shengelia

Zaza Shengelia

Head of the Publishing Program
Zaza Shengelia

Zaza Shengelia

Head of the Publishing Program

Zaza Shengelia is in charge of the publishing program of EPRC and the Fukuyama Democracy Frontline Centre and is the Executive Editor of the Georgian edition of American Purpose magazine.

Zaza holds a degree in political science from the Sorbonne University. In addition to his research and analysis, he has extensive experience in managing publishing projects. He translates from English and French.

Nino Turkia

Nino Turkia

Project Coordinator
Nino Turkia

Nino Turkia

Project Coordinator

Nino Turkia is a Project Coordinator at EPRC. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Governance and Social Sciences from the Free University of Tbilisi.

She has been actively working on research in the fields of social and cultural anthropology, as well as political anthropology.

As for her career path, she was a junior project manager for Forbes 30 Under 30 Georgia. Before that, she held the position of editor at a startup media platform. Nino also worked as a journalist for influential local business editions, including Forbes Woman Georgia and Business Media Georgia (BMG).

Marekhi Guruli

Marekhi Guruli

Financial Manager
Marekhi Guruli

Marekhi Guruli

Financial Manager

Marekh Guruli joined EPRC team in 2018. She has a multiyear experience in working for the both government and private sectors. She has served as a Head of Normative Department at the State Insurance Supervision Service of Georgia. Marekh has worked as a financial and reporting manager at various private insurance companies. She is a graduate and member of ACCA. Since 2015 Marekh is a certified (registered) auditor.

Ia Shaoshvili

Ia Shaoshvili

Office Manager / Administrative Assistant
Ia Shaoshvili

Ia Shaoshvili

Office Manager / Administrative Assistant

Ia joined the Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC) team since 2017. She has 12 years of experience working in the public and private sectors of Georgia. Her work background involves financial institutions such as: “Privat Bank” and “Euro Credit” where she worked on number of different positions during 6 years, whereas in public sector Ia was involved in the development and implementation of bilateral cooperation plans with Georgia’s partner countries while working in the General Inspection of the Ministry of Defense. At EPRC, Ia undertook the tasks of maintaining general office work and performs administrative work, as well as being involved in various projects and research.

Nikoloz Mikeladze

Nikoloz Mikeladze

Accountant
Nikoloz Mikeladze

Nikoloz Mikeladze

Accountant

Since 2007 Nikoloz is EPRC’s financial manager. He graduated from Tbilisi State University. Nikoloz has a long-standing experience in finance and accounting, he worked for the TAO insurance company as a chief accountant.