Vladimer 'Lado' Papava, PhD, is a Professor of Economics at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University and has been an Academician at the Georgian National Academy of Sciences since 2013. He was the President of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University from 16 August 2013 to 20 April 2016.

He was born on 25th March 1955 in Tbilisi, Georgia. Vladimer Papava graduated from Tbilisi State University in 1978, specialising in Economic Cybernetics. He obtained his Candidate of Science degree in Economics (PhD) from the Central Economic Mathematical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in Moscow in 1982. In 1989, he earned his Doctor of Science degree in Economics from Tbilisi State University and received a similar qualification from Leningrad State University in 1990.

His research is firmly grounded in the practical experience he gained while working for the Georgian Government. From 1994 to 2000, he was the Minister of Economy of Georgia, and played an active role in currency reform and the liberalisation of the economy, which included opening up foreign trade, implementing institutional transformations, and launching various innovative government programmes. From 2004 to 2008, he was a Member of Parliament, where he served on the Committee for Finance and Budget. As a member of the Georgian Government and an Alternate Governor of the World Bank, he significantly contributed to negotiations with both the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

In 2005 and 2006, Vladimer Papava was a visiting scholar at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, affiliated with the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

He has authored over 400 publications, making significant contributions to both theoretical and applied studies of post-Communist economies, as well as to the economic development of the Central Caucasus countries.

Vladimer Papava has authored numerous influential works, including The Semi-Productive Matrix Approach for Input-Output Models, The Theory of the Economic Ability of the Government and Egalitarian Goods, The Model of an ‘Economy Without Taxes’, The Theory of Laffer-Keynesian Synthesis, The Indexes of Tax Corruption, The Method of Measuring of the Catch-Up Effect, The Method of the ‘Social Promotion’ for Post-Communist Transition to a Market Economy, The Doctrine of Market Equality and its Application to the Process of Post-Communist Transformation, Financial Globalization and Post-Communist Georgia: Global Exchange Rate Instability and its Implications for Georgia, Becoming European: Challenges for Georgia in the Twenty-First Century; a co-author of The Theory of the ‘Shadow Political Economy’ together with Nodar Khaduri, and Laffer-Keynesian Synthesis and Macroeconomic Equilibrium (Economic Issues, Problems and Perspectives) together with Iuri Ananiashvili; an editor of The Central Caucasus: Problems of Geopolitical Economy together with Eldar Ismaiolv, and Economic Reforms in Post-Communist Georgia: Twenty Years After (Caucasus Region Political, Economic and Security Issues). Also, Vladimer Papava is the author of the Theory of ‘Necroeconomics’ – The Political Economy of Post-Communist Capitalism and ‘Retroeconomics’ – the Theory of Moving from Dying to Brisk Economy.

Together with Eldar Ismailov, Vladimer Papava elaborated the geopolitical Concept of the Central Caucasus. Also, he developed the geopolitical concept of Central Caucasus-Asia.

Vladimer Papava is a member of several editorial boards, including:

• Problems of Economic Transition (USA)
• Journal of Business and Economics (USA)
• Mega Journal of Business Research (USA)
• Central Asia and the Caucasus (Sweden)
• European Journal of Economic Studies (Slovak Republic)
• Caucasian Review of International Affairs (Germany)
• Academic Journal BRAMS (Georgia)
• Transformations (Poland)
• Economy of Ukraine (Ukraine)
• Society and Economy (Russia)
• Finance: Theory and Practice (Russia)

From 1992 to 2005, he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Proceedings of the Georgian Academy of Sciences – Economic Series.

Since 1997, Vladimer Papava has been a Corresponding Member of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences, and he became an Active Member (Academician) in 2013. He holds active membership in the International Academy of Sciences, Education, Industry and Arts (California, USA), the New York Academy of Sciences (New York, USA), the International Informatisation Academy (UN), and various other international societies and associations.

From 2008 to 2010, he served as the Deputy Chairman of the Scientific Committee for Economics and Law at the Georgian National Academy of Sciences. Since 2010, he has been the Chair of the Scientific Committee for Economics at the same institution. In 2007, he joined the Advisory Council of the Centre for Social and Economic Research (CASE) in Warsaw, Poland, and became a member of the International Scientific Council of the International Institute for Social Development in Moscow, Russia. He is affiliated with Tbilisi-based think tanks such as the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, and the BRAMS Institute.

In 2004, Vladimer Papava and a group of Georgian economists were awarded the State Prize of Georgia in Science for their series of publications titled "The Methods and Models of Macroeconomic Regulations." In 2008, he received the Philippe Gogichaishvili Prize from the National Academy of Sciences of Georgia for his book "Necroeconomics: The Political Economy of Post-Communist Capitalism" (New York, iUniverse, 2005).