Nino Kakulia was born in Samtredia on 15 October 1991, in the last days of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic. By the time Nino and independent Georgia were celebrating their 13th birthdays, the Georgian government embarked on a series of long-overdue reforms, one of which was about cleansing the country’s higher education system from corruption.

Spring is already here. Seeing more sunshine and rains, Georgia’s western provinces are enjoying the sharpest seasonal increases in the supply of fresh milk and dairy products, such as Imeretian cheese. This cheese is the main (and most expensive) component of the Georgian khachapuri, driving the sharp seasonal fluctuations of the Khachapuri Index.

Borjomi was the final stop and the highlight on a four-day anticorruption program ISET organized for students and faculty of its partner university, the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) in Bergen. The tour was hosted by Borjomi LTD, producer of Georgia’s most famous mineral water – the “Coca Cola of the Soviet Union”, in the words of Jacques Fleury, the company’s former CEO.

We are proud to announce that Maya Grigolia, an ISET alumna (class 2008) and senior researcher with the ISET Policy Institute, was offered a position of Research Director at Policy and Management Consulting Group (PMCG). In her new capacity, Maya will be working on project management, quality control, and communication issues.

ISET is proud to welcome Maria De Paola, a visiting professor working at the Department of Economics, Statistics and Finance at the University of Calabria in Italy. Currently an Associate Professor of Economics, Maria obtained her PhD in Economics from the University of Rome.