27 Facts About Tsezar Chocheli

In parallel to his role in the private sector, Tsezar Chocheli has been involved in politics since his election as Chairman of the Akhalgori Municipal Assembly in 2002.

Tsezar Chocheli's governorship coincided with the 2008 Russo-Georgian War and large reconstruction efforts that followed and he resigned in 2012 after the victory of Georgian Dream in the parliamentary elections.

Tsezar Chocheli was born on 10 January 1968 in Leningori, at the time in Soviet Georgia's South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast.

Tsezar Chocheli's family comes from the now-deserted village of Gezevreti, in South Ossetia.

Tsezar Chocheli has two brothers, Lasha and Iago, who have been his business partners since the launch of his enterprise in the 1990s.

Tsezar Chocheli received a degree in trade economics from Tbilisi State University in 1991, around the time of Georgia's independence declaration.

Shortly after graduating university in 1991,23-year-old Tsezar Chocheli founded with relatives and friends the Lomisa brewery in his hometown of Akhalgori.

In 2010, Tsezar Chocheli purchased the only railroad tie factory in Georgia from the state.

At the time, many of his private holdings were managed through his brother Iago, while Tsezar Chocheli was considered to be one of Georgia's largest private employers and employed thousands of IDPs.

In 2009, Tsezar Chocheli acquired Liberty Bank through his company New Energy's subsidiary Euro Oil.

Tsezar Chocheli sits on the Executive Committee of the Georgian Judo Federation, of which he is the Vice-President since 2018.

However, Tsezar Chocheli's seat was one of 75 that would not be contested by the new authorities and Chocheli remained in his post until 2008 as a member of FNG, a party without leadership.

Tsezar Chocheli served on the Parliamentary Commission for the Restoration of Georgia's Territorial Integrity.

On 19 February 2008, Tsezar Chocheli resigned his parliamentary seat and was appointed as Governor of Mtskheta-Mtianeti by President Saakashvili to replace Vasil Maghlapheridze, who had recently left office and joined the opposition.

In October 2009, Tsezar Chocheli was one of the main negotiators of Georgia during a hostage crisis that saw Russian forces kidnap 21 Georgian citizens for allegedly crossing the conflict line.

Tsezar Chocheli was awarded the Order of Excellence by Saakashvili in 2012.

Tsezar Chocheli resigned from office on 24 November 2012, shortly after the loss of UNM in that year's parliamentary elections that saw the victory of Georgian Dream, while the new government started legal proceedings against him.

Tsezar Chocheli became the subject of an investigation by the Ministry of Justice in December 2012 as part of a largest inquiry into an alleged attempt to bankrupt through predatory practices Cartu Bank, a lending organization belonging to Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the new ruling Georgian Dream party and Prime Minister since October.

Tsezar Chocheli has accused Gia Khukhashvili, an economic adviser to then-Prime Minister Ivanishvili, for being behind his legal challenges.

The Ministry of Finance alleged that Tsezar Chocheli used the factory to launder up to 50 million GEL.

Tsezar Chocheli nonetheless maintained close ties with the government's Business Ombudsman Giorgi Gakharia.

Tsezar Chocheli would become one of the largest financial contributors to Georgian Dream in the subsequent years.

Tsezar Chocheli was nominated by the coalition as its candidate for the Mtskheta-Mtianeti Majoritarian District, running against 14 candidates, including incumbent Eka Beselia and former MP Tamaz Mechiauri.

Unlike the 2016 race, Georgian Dream openly campaigned against Tsezar Chocheli and was accused of using administrative resources against him.

Tsezar Chocheli became one of the largest campaign donors to UNM.

Tsezar Chocheli nonetheless won a seat in Parliament through the opposition coalition's electoral list.

Tsezar Chocheli serves on the Agricultural Committee and is a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of GUAM.