The Washington Diplomat

Appointments, May 2003

Bolivia
Sandra Garcia assumed the position of civil attaché, replacing Lilian Rocha.

Alejandra Kempff assumed the position of second secretary, replacing Fabiola Solis.

Pablo Montenegro assumed the position of first secretary, replacing Cristina Linale.

Chile
Eduardo Galvez assumed the position of minister-counselor on Nov. 25, 2002, replacing Frederick Heller, who departed the post on Jan. 24 to become the chief of cabinet for the general director of the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Galvez previously served in the General Directorate for International Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as a counselor with the Chilean delegation to the United Nations in New York (1996-2001).

Lithuania
Jolanda Kriskovieciene assumed the position of minister-counselor on March 3, replacing Nijole Zambaite, who departed the post on March 1. Kriskovieciene, who holds a doctorate in economics, previously served as an economic affairs counselor at the Embassy of Lithuania in Stockholm and Beijing.

Malta
John Lowell became ambassador of Malta to the United States on F eb. 26. Ambassador Lowell previously served as nonresident ambassador to Croatia (2000-03), as well as to Bulgaria, Romania and Bosnia-Herzegovina (1999-2003). Ambassador Lowell, who has been chairman of the Manoel Theater Committee at the National Theatre since 1993, was the main shareholder and managing director of the Ells Ltd. Malta from 1967 to 1997. There, he owned and managed various subsidiary companies in the fields of property development, travel, catering, import/export and duty-free management. In addition, from 1952 to 1966, Ambassador Lowell worked for Barclays Bank DCO. Ambassador Lowell studied at St. Aloysius College in Malta and is married with three children.

Nepal
Rudra K. Nepal assumed the position of deputy chief of mission on March 27, replacing Dinesh Bhattarai, who departed the post on April 16 to serve in the Nepalese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Nepal previously served as undersecretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, deputy chief of mission at the Royal Nepalese Embassy in Tokyo, and consul at the Royal Nepalese Consulate General in India.

Russia
Andrey I. Khalevinskiy departed the post of third secretary on March 21. Khalevinskiy previously served as an attaché at the Department of Economic Cooperation of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Irina A. Khortonen assumed the position of third secretary on March 14, replacing Sergey V. Tagashov, who departed the post on March 29. Khortonen previously served as an attaché at the North America Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Tagashov previously served as an attaché at the Department of State Protocol of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Andrey A. Ledenev assumed the position of attaché on March 12. Ledenev previously served as an attaché at the North America Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Tajikistan
Khamrokhon Zaripov became ambassador of Tajikistan to the United States on Feb. 26. He is the first ambassador at the newly established Embassy of Tajikistan in Washington. Ambassador Zaripov previously served as Tajikistan’s ambassador to Hungary (1999-2002), Switzerland (1998-2003), and Austria (1997-2003). In addition, he was the chargé d’affaires of the Tajikistani Embassy in Austria (1996-97) and head of the Tajikistani Mission to the European Communities (1997-2001). Ambassador Zaripov also served as Tajikistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations and head of the Tajikistani Delegation to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (1996-2003), as well as the deputy minister of foreign affairs of Tajikistan (1995-97), and chief (1994-96) and deputy chief (1993-94) of the Personnel Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He held various posts in the party organization and Tajikistani government from 1984 to 1993 and was a coordinator in the Kulyab Regional Executive Committee from 1974 to 1984. Ambassador Zaripov held teaching and research posts at the Physical and Technical Scientific Research Institute S. Umarov in Tajikistan and at the Kulyab State University, and he has studied at the National Institute of Modern Language in Pakistan and the Korean Institute for Economy and Trade. He speaks Tajik, Farsi, Russian and English and is married with two children.