The following lists events in 2018 in Georgia. Incumbents National President: Giorgi Margvelashvili (17 November 2013 – 16 December 2018), Salome Zurabishvili (16 December 2018 – present) Prime Minister: Giorgi Kvirikashvili (30 December 2015 – 13 June 2018), Mamuka Bakhtadze (20 June 2018 – present) Chairperson of Parliament: Irakli Kobakhidze (18 November 2016 – present) Autonomous republics Adjara Chairman of the Government: Zurab Pataradze (15 July 2016 – 4 July 2018); Tornike Rizhvadze (21 July 2018 – present) Chairman of the Supreme Council: Davit Gabaidze (28 November 2016 – present) Abkhazia Chairman of Government (-in-exile): Vakhtang Kolbaia (acting; 8 April 2013 – present) Chairman of the Supreme Council (-in-exile): Elguja Gvazava (20 March 2009 – present) Disputed territories Abkhazia President: Raul Khadjimba (25 September 2014 – present) Prime Minister: Beslan Bartsits (5 August 2016 – 24 April 2018); Gennadi Gagulia (24 April 2018 – 8 September 2018); Valeri Bganba (18 September 2018 – present) Chairman of People's Assembly: Valeri Kvarchia (13 April 2017 – present) South Ossetia President: Anatoly Bibilov (23 April 2017 – present) Prime Minister: Erik Pukhayev (16 May 2017 – present) Chairman of Parliament: Pyotr Gasiev (7 June 2017 – present) Events January 3 January – Protests erupt in breakaway Abkhazia over the de facto president Khadjimba's decision to pardon and hand over to the Georgian authorities the region's ethnic Georgian native serving a 20-year prison term for the kidnapping and murder of Abkhaz officials. The region's legislature convenes in an emergency session and sets up a special commission which would confirm the legality of Khadjimba's move, to the ire of the opposition. 5 January – The Tbilisi City Court sentences the former President Mikheil Saakashvili to three-year imprisonment in absentia for abusing power in pardoning the former Interior Ministry officials convicted in the 2006 Sandro Girgvliani murder case. Saakashvili, the opposition United National Movement party, and the incumbent President Giorgi Margvelashvili denounce the decision. 30 January – Ceiling collapse at the Tbilisi Metro station Varketili, renovated in August 2017, injures at least 14. An investigation into possible violation of safety norms is launched. February 22 February – A Georgian citizen, Archil Tatunashvili, dies while in custody of the Russian-backed South Ossetian authorities in Tskhinvali, leading to an outrage in Georgia and concerns expressed by the EU mission and foreign embassies. Despite continued requests from Tbilisi, backed by the West, de facto South Ossetian authorities continue to