Premier of Soviet Georgia reported killed in crash

By With Analysis From Monitor Correspondents Around The World; Edited By Anne Shutt

June 9, 1982

Moscow

The prime minister of the Soviet republic of Georgia, Zurab Pataridze, was killed in a car accident Saturday, the official Tass news agency reported.

The Kremlin leadership gave no explanation for the unusual three-day delay in making the accident public. Mr. Pataridze, prime minister of Georgia since 1975, was a candidate member of the Communist Party Central Committee in Moscow.