Mikheil Janelidze

Mikheil Janelidze მიხეილ ჯანელიძე
File:Mikheil Janelidze - May 2016 (cropped).jpg
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 30 December 2015 – 13 June 2018
Prime Minister	Giorgi Kvirikashvili
Preceded by	Giorgi Kvirikashvili
Succeeded by	David Zalkaliani
Personal details
Born	(1981-03-29) 29 March 1981
Political party	Georgian Dream
Children	1
Alma mater	Tbilisi State University Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Caucasus University

Mikheil Janelidze (Georgian: მიხეილ ჯანელიძე; born 29 March 1981) is a Georgian politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia from appointed on 30 December 2015 until 13 June 2018. Janelidze served as First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia from September 2015 until his appointment as Minister. In this capacity, he had a portfolio of Georgia’s relations with the United States and Canada as well as economic diplomacy.

Career

Prior to moving to the Georgian Foreign Service, Mr. Janelidze has enjoyed an extensive career at the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia in the period of 2009–2015 initially as Director of Foreign Trade and International Economic Affairs Department, and, since 2011, as Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development. Throughout these years he also served as Georgia’s Chief Trade Negotiator with the EU and Chairman of Intergovernmental Economic Commissions with various countries. Before joining the public service and taking up the government job, Mr. Janelidze worked for the private sector as a manager and an entrepreneur in the area of business development and management consulting mostly focused on international trade and investment.

Education

Mr. Janelidze earned his bachelor's degree with honors in International Relations from Tbilisi State University in 2002. Later, in 2003-2006, he continued his postgraduate studies in International Law and European Law at the Diplomatic Academy in the Russian Federation. In 2011, Mr. Janelidze earned his master's degree in Business Administration with Distinction from the Grenoble Graduate School of Business in France and the International Executive MBA from CSB in Georgia. Prior to that, in 1996-1997, Mr. Janelidze studied at the Hochwald Gymnasium in Wadern, Germany.

Personal life

Besides his native Georgian, Minister Janelidze speaks English, German and Russian languages. Mikheil Janelidze is married and has a daughter.

See also

• List of foreign ministers in 2017
• List of current foreign ministers