Kakha Bendukidze, head of Georgia's State Office, retires

Today, Kakha Bendukidze, head of the State Office of Georgia, has confirmed his resignation.

"Several days ago, Prime Minister Nika Gilauri told me that he would like to have another person in the position of the head of the State Office, and to see me as his adviser," said Mr Bendukidze. According to his story, the opposition is most happy with his retirement, "and it means that they are pleased to have the person who fought against them retire."

The "Interfax" reports that Kakha Bendukidze refused to answer the question whether he would work as Prime Minister's adviser.

The "Georgia-Online" Agency reports that at one of recent sessions of the Parliament representatives of the opposition voiced their criticism towards Bendukidze, asking the Prime Minister to tell about the influence that the former Russian oligarch has on the Government. The opposition asserts that all the previous governments in Georgia, except for the cabinet of the late prime-minister Zurab Zhvaniya, were and are under Bendukidze's control.

Kakha Bendukidze was appointed to the position of the head of the State Office in January 2008. Earlier, he was Minister for Economic Matters.