Zurab Nogaideli, the former prime minister, has been made the chairman of Kala Capital, a newly set up group uniting businesses owned by Georgian AC Milan footballer Kakhi Kaladze.

Lexo Alexishvili, the former finance minister, will be director of Progress-Bank, part of Kala-Capital, which will launch its operations this summer. Alexishvili will also be a member of the board of directors of Kala Capital.

The group will also have interests in the energy sector, Kaladze said at a presentation of Kala-Capital on March 31. The group, he said, planned investments in the construction of new hydro power plants and oil exploration and production, as well as in wind energy projects.

Kaladze also said that real estate would be the third major sphere of interest for his business group with a plan to develop residential and business units on a 78-hectare plot of land near Tbilisi.

Kala-Capital will deal with only Kaladze’s businesses, which he owns in Georgia. He also has businesses in Italy, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

“My major goal is to help develop Georgia’s economy and attract investment,” he said. “We are also negotiating with potential U.S. and British partners about investing [in joint ventures].”

Kaladze said that he also planned a charitable Kala Foundation.

President Saakashvili, who attended the presentation, said that Georgia had become a favorable destination for investments and said that foreign direct investment was USD 500 mln in the first quarter of 2008.