TBILISI. July 21 (Interfax) - Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has sacked two ministers from his Cabinet: Minister of Corrections and Legal Assistance Sozar Subari and Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Khatuna Gogoladze.
Five more ministers are due to step down in the very near future, the premier said at a Monday briefing.
At this stage, seven ministries are to have their leaders replaced: the Ministry of Corrections and Legal Assistance, the Ministry for Refugees and Accommodation, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development, the Ministry of Culture, and the Ministry for Diaspora Issues.
Garibashvili explained this decision by the need to raise the government's efficiency.
"We need a different pace of work now. We need to work with double intensity," he said.
Garibashvili said that for now he can name candidates for the Minister of Refugees and Accommodation and the Minister of Environmental Protection.
The former is Sozar Subari who has until recently served as the Minister of Corrections; the latter is Elguja Khokrishvili, previously the Minister of Infrastructure. He is replacing Gogoladze.
Garibashvili said that changes in the other five ministries will be announced over the next few days.