 During the emancipation reform, he was entrusted with the task of formulating the noble position and charged, in 1862, with devising a way to free the Georgian serfs.His plan did not well compensate the serfs; they would not be given any land, but rather would continue to farm their landlord's plots and pay for the use of it.Subsequently, he was actively involved in the emancipation program, articulating the interests of the small and middle nobility.