Georgian economy minister’s racy nightclub photo sparks controversy

Just weeks after Vera Kobalia was appointed to be Georgia’s economic minister by President Mikheil Saakashvili, a racy photograph of the 28-year-old, said to be taken at a Vancouver strip club, is sparking an international media furore. Kobalia, who is Georgian but lived in B.C., denies claims the photo was taken at a strip club, saying it was actually taken in Florida. But now, in addition to the risqué picture, Kobalia has also been accused of doctoring her resume. Though she claimed to have worked as a television producer in Vancouver for Global TV and CBC, The Vancouver Sun dug into her work experience and found an apparent discrepancy in her official biography: no one at the Global TV newsroom could recall her name, and Global’s Human Resources department says there is no record of Kobalia ever having been on the payroll. In response to the accusation, Kobalia has accused the Sun of being a Russian propaganda unit controlled by the Kremlin.

Vancouver Sun