Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has appointed Zurab Azarashvili, the Deputy Defence Minister, as the next Health Minister, succeeding Ekaterine Tikaradze, who resigned on December 9 for undisclosed reasons.

Since February 2021, Azarashvili has been the Deputy Defence Minister. Prior to that, he served as the general director of STC Delta, Georgia's state-owned armaments manufacturing, which is part of the Defence Ministry. He was the general director of Tbilaviamsheni, a Tbilisi aircraft plant, from 2014 until 2020.

He graduated from the European School of Management in Tbilisi with a bachelor's and master's degree in business administration. Azarashvili has worked for several institutions in Georgia, notably the Cartu Bank, which was founded by Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili.

Irakli Garibashvili, the Prime Minister, said the newly appointed Health Minister has substantial financial knowledge and "is a great manager."

Georgian Minister of Health Ekaterine Tikaradze announced her resignation at a briefing at the ruling Georgian Dream party headquarters in Tbilisi on 9 December.

"After three years of intensive work and consultations with the prime minister and the [ruling] party chair, I find it the right decision to further strengthen the Georgian health and social protection services from the Georgian Dream party political council,” she announced.