Levan Gachechiladze

Levan Gachechiladze (Georgian: ლევან გაჩეჩილაძე) (born 20 July 1964) is a Georgian politician and businessman who ran as the main oppositional candidate in the 5 January Georgian presidential election, 2008.

Gachechiladze currently lives in Tbilisi, the city where he was born. He was educated at Tbilisi Ivane Javakhishvili State University with a degree in mathematics and economics. He is married, with three children. His brother is the popular Georgian showman and TV show producer Giorgi Gachechiladze, known as Utsnobi (literally: "unknown" or "stranger").

Levan Gachechiladze’s rise to fame started with first of its kind Franco-Georgian wine alliance, which he quite brilliantly secured between his company Georgian Wines & Spirits and French Pernod Ricard during the very volatile post-soviet years for Georgia. Gachechiladze’s vision for transforming the industry included raising prices on largely overlooked Georgian wines and spearheading their distribution throughout Europe, and with backing of the wine business powerhouse Pernod Ricard he achieved just that. Receiving two rounds of financing amounting to $150 thousand and $5+ million over the span of several years, Gachechiladze secured cross-border capital investment that at that time was unprecedented both in significance and size. The ultimate result of his effort was introduction of market economy mindset to the Georgian wine industry and its eventual shift towards quality and premium-priced produce.

For his achievements, Gachechiladze was named Businessman of the Year and Georgian Wines & Spirits was named Company of the Year in 1999. Gachechiladze's personal wealth is estimated to be $USD10 million.

Currently Gachechiladze is involved with multiple businesses and lobbying activities. Together with his brother, he is also the owner of TV Station Maestro.

...
Wikipedia