PM Nika Gilauri said on December 21, he had appointed Khatuna Kalmakhelidze as new minister for penitentiary and probation system.

The post became vacant after the former minister Dimitri Shashkin was appointed as education minister earlier this month.

Before the new appointment Kalmakhelidze, 30, served as deputy head of the political department at the Georgian Foreign Ministry. She is the only female cabinet member.

“Significant reforms for democratization have been carried out in Georgia and prison system reform is an important part of this process. I will be guided with principles of humanism,” the new minister said.