 In July 2016, Zurab Pataradze was nominated by President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili as the head of the government of Adjara, an autonomous region on the Black Sea coast, after the incumbent Archil Khabadze announced his resignation just three months before the scheduled elections.Pataridze narrowly won a confidence vote in the region's legislature on 15 July 2016.He resigned on 4 July 2018 and was replaced by Tornike Rizhvadze on 21 July.