Main Areas of Practice:
Commercial and contract law, telecommunications, regulatory, aviation law, trade law and general business.

Key Sectors:
International consultation on government regulations, trade policy, economic issues and legislative initiatives; International transactions, investments and joint ventures; Trade facilitation, finance and logistics; Export/import practices and management plans; Trade and business strategies; Telecommunications and electronic commerce issues; Natural resources; General matters including a broad scope of global business.

Vakhtang Shevardnadze is a former Partner at MKD Law. He specializes in trade facilitation, finance and logistics; export/import practices and management plans; trade and business strategies; telecommunications and electronic commerce issues; natural resources; aviation law; and more general matters, including a broad scope of global business.

His work has included advising Pacific International Co. on lease transactions for Boeing aircraft; Chevron Texaco on corporate changes to Georgian special purpose vehicles; Veolia while bidding for assets of the Tbilisi Water Company and other water utilities; Rompetrol on the legal ramifications of entering the Georgian market; Capital Turbines Australia with regard to the Gardabani power plant construction; the World Bank on a public-private partnership (PPP) project to develop Georgia’s Rikoti Tunnel; the EBRD on financing the construction of infrastructure utilities such as the major oil terminal in Poti on Georgia’s Black Sea coast; Northrop-Grumman on contractual issues for the local airline industry; Aeroflot on options for purchasing a stake in a major Georgian airline; Babcock&Brown International Group on lease transactions for aircraft in Georgia;  White&Case LLP on lease transactions for Boeing aircraft;  CIT Corporation (USA) on lease transactions for Boeing aircraft in Georgia; and the IATA on tax and regulatory matters of its operations in Georgia. 

Vakhtang began practicing as a lawyer in 1986. In 1994, he accepted a political appointment to serve four years with the Georgian Foreign Ministry in positions involving dealing with the United Nations, its organs and specialized agencies and programs. He also served as Deputy Head of the Ministry’s UN Division. In 1998, Mr. Shevardnadze joined the UNHCR Office in Tbilisi as legal advisor. In this capacity, he helped the UNHCR with outreach and educational programs for national authorities, non-governmental organizations and the general public; provided support to Georgian authorities regarding the drafting and implementation of legislation; prepared draft laws and amendments; and trained UNHCR staff, mass-media representatives, NGOs and governmental representatives. In 2001, Mr. Shevardnadze resigned from this post and joined MKD in 2002. 

Vakhtang Shevardnadze has lectured on public international law at Tbilisi State University since 2001. He has also published numerous articles in law journals, including “Some Issues Related to the Hierarchy of International and National Laws” (Law Journal, No. 1, 1998); “Refugee Legislation and International Legal Standards related to Asylum Seekers and Refugees” (Georgia and Public International Law, Tbilisi, 2001); and “The Compatibility of Georgian National Legislation on Asylum Seekers and Refugees with Norms and Principles of Public International Law” (International Journal of Refugee Law, Oxford University Press, Volume 13, November 4, 2001).