Georgia’s Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development, which was split in April 2025, has been merged once again. The vote on re-merging the agencies took place in parliament today, September 16. The initiative was supported by 83 lawmakers.
Under the approved legislative package, the post of State Minister for the Coordination of Law Enforcement Agencies, created specifically for the former head of the State Security Service of Georgia, Mamuka Mdinaradze, was also abolished.
This is the second structural reform bill submitted by the government to parliament. The government had to withdraw the first one following the departure of Mdinaradze, acting head of the Ministry of Regional Development, from his post and from politics altogether.
The initial draft of the amendments submitted by the government to parliament envisaged creating another special post for Mamuka Mdinaradze—State Minister for Regional Policy. Following his exit from politics, it was decided to drop the creation of this position, as no other candidate with the appropriate skills could be found.
Under the new regulations:
- The Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure will be established on the basis of the Ministry of Infrastructure.
- The newly merged ministry will become the legal successor to both former agencies.
- Legal acts of both former ministries and their subordinate bodies will retain legal force until new legal acts are adopted or issued.
- The function of coordinating and facilitating cooperation with state representatives (governors) and municipal bodies is transferred not to the Ministry of Infrastructure, but to the Government Administration.
The employment status of personnel within the merged structure will be determined by a special commission. As Parliamentary Secretary of the Government Vakhtang Bachiashvili explained during parliamentary hearings, employees of the Ministry of Regional Development should first be offered equivalent positions. In the absence of such roles, they will be offered “lower or lateral” posts, and “in the event that a suitable position cannot be offered or vacancies are unavailable,” civil servants will receive compensation and be invited to participate in open competitions for vacant civil service posts.
Meanwhile, the staff reshuffle will not affect employees of the Ministry of Infrastructure. Under the amendments, they will be transferred without competition to the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia, retaining the same positions they held at the time this clause of the law entered into force.