Gogi Topadze passes away

Businessman and politician Gogi Topadze has passed away at the age of 84. The news was shared on social media by his close associates.

In 1957, he graduated from Tbilisi’s 51st Secondary School and continued his studies at the Faculty of Food and Chemical Industry at the Georgian Polytechnic Institute. After graduating in 1962, he began working as a research associate at the Scientific-Research Institute of Food and Industry. In 1967, Topadze enrolled in the postgraduate program at the All-Union Scientific-Research Institute of Organic Chemistry in Moscow. In 1969, he defended his dissertation and was awarded the title of Candidate of Technical Sciences.

From 1970 to 1975, Topadze served as the director of the Tbilisi Soap Factory. Between 1975 and 1986, he was the General Director of the "TbilLudi" industrial association. From 1986, he worked as the director of the Lilo Brewery under construction. In 1994, he founded the beer company "Kazbegi." In 1997 and 1998, he was named Georgia’s Best Businessman.

From 1999 to 2005, he was the chairman of the political movement "Industry Will Save Georgia." Between 1999 and 2004, he was a member of Georgia’s 5th Parliament, elected through the party list of the "Industry Will Save Georgia" electoral bloc, serving as chairman of the "Industrialists" faction. From 2004 to 2008, he was a member of the 6th Parliament through the electoral bloc "Right-Wing Opposition, Industrialists, New."

Since 2005, Topadze led the political movement "Industry Will Save Georgia." That same year, he was elected President of the European Chamber of Commerce. Also in 2005, he became the first Georgian businessman to be awarded the Patron’s Gold Medal.

In the 2010 local self-government elections, Topadze ran for the position of Mayor of Tbilisi. From 2012 to 2016, he served as a member of Georgia’s 8th Parliament as part of the electoral bloc "Bidzina Ivanishvili – Georgian Dream."