SOCAR has appointed Levan Davitashvili, former Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, as CEO of oil company Italiana Petroli, Azerbaijani media reports.

“Following the completion of the acquisition of 99.82% of Italiana Petroli (IP) shares from API Holding, SOCAR announces the appointment of Levan Davitashvili as CEO of IP,” the Italian oil company said in a statement.

According to the statement, in this position, Levan Davitashvili, former Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, will lead Italiana Petroli’s operations in Italy to “ensure business continuity, maintain and further strengthen its position in the local energy market, and oversee the company’s broad integration into the SOCAR Group.”