| Prime Minister of the Republic of Abkhazia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Residence | Sukhumi |
| Appointer | Aslan Bzhania, as President of Abkhazia |
| Inaugural holder | Gennady Gagulia |
| Formation | 26 November 1994 |
 |
|---|
| Constitution |
 Abkhaziaportal |
The prime minister of Abkhazia is the de facto head of government of the partially recognized Republic of Abkhazia, that is de jure part of Georgia.
While the presidency was held by one man – Vladislav Ardzinba – from 1994 to 2005, the position of prime minister changed hands a number of times during that time. It was created with the November 1994 adoption of the Constitution of Abkhazia, and Gennady Gagulia was appointed to the position in January 1995.
After Sergei Bagapsh succeeded Ardzinba to the presidency in February 2005, he appointed Alexander Ankvab as Prime Minister. Ankvab was Bagapsh's vice presidential candidate in the 12 December 2009 presidential election, [1] and as required by law, he was officially suspended from his post on 11 November and his duties were carried out by First Vice Premier Leonid Lakerbaia. [2] Bagapsh and Ankvab won the election, and on 13 February 2010, Ankvab was succeeded by long-time minister for foreign affairs Sergei Shamba. [3]
After Alexander Ankvab defeated Sergei Shamba in the 2011 presidential election, Leonid Lakerbaia became Prime Minister.
On 2 June 2014, Lakerbaia resigned as a result of the Abkhazian Revolution and Vice Premier Vladimir Delba was appointed acting prime minister. [4]
The 2014 presidential election was won by opposition leader Raul Khajimba, who on 29 September 2014 appointed Beslan Butba as the new prime minister. [5] However, there were rumors of Butba's resignation almost since the beginning of his term, explained variously by a power struggle between Butba and Khajimba and by Butba's supposed bad performance as Prime Minister. [6] Butba was finally dismissed by President Khajimba on 16 March 2015, and temporarily replaced by First Vice Premier Shamil Adzynba. [7] In a press conference afterwards, Butba said that he had made Khajimba aware of his intention to resign. He claimed that the presidential administration had taken over many of the responsibilities of the prime minister, creating a 'second government'. [6] On 20 March, Khajimba appointed MP and former United Abkhazia chairman Artur Mikvabia as Butba's successor. [8]
Following a pending motion of no-confidence against him, the storming of the Interior Ministry by opposition activists and a failed referendum to bring about an early presidential election, Mikvabia announced his resignation as Prime Minister on 26 July 2016, accepted on the same day by Khajimba. [9] [10] In an interview with Caucasian Knot, Mikvabia stated that the strong unrest in society was being caused by the government's efforts to structurally improve the financial situation of Abkhazia through measures such as the introduction of VAT, that he did not want to work under conditions where society itself hindered development and that he hoped his resignation would defuse tensions. [11] Khajimba again appointed Adzynba as acting prime minister. [10] On 5 August, he appointed newly-appointed presidential administration head Beslan Bartsits as the new Prime Minister. [12]
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Political party | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||
| 1 |  | Gennady Gagulia (1948–2018) | January 1995 | 29 April 1997 | 2 years, 3 months | Independent | |
| 2 |  | Sergei Bagapsh (1949–2011) | 29 April 1997 | 20 December 1999 | 2 years, 235 days | Independent | |
| 3 |  | Viacheslav Tsugba (born 1944) | 20 December 1999 | 30 May 2001 | 1 year, 161 days | Independent | |
| 4 | | Anri Jergenia (1941–2020) | 7 June 2001 | 29 November 2002 | 1 year, 175 days | Independent | |
| (1) | | Gennady Gagulia (1948–2018) | 29 November 2002 | 8 April 2003 | 130 days | Independent | |
| 5 |  | Raul Khajimba (born 1958) | 22 April 2003 | 6 October 2004 | 1 year, 167 days | Independent | |
| 6 |  | Nodar Khashba (born 1951) | 6 October 2004 | 14 February 2005 | 131 days | United Abkhazia | |
| 7 |  | Alexander Ankvab (born 1952) | 14 February 2005 | 13 February 2010 | 4 years, 364 days | Aitaira | |
| 8 | | Sergei Shamba (born 1951) | 13 February 2010 | 27 September 2011 | 1 year, 226 days | Independent | |
| 9 | | Leonid Lakerbaia (born 1947) | 27 September 2011 | 2 June 2014 | 2 years, 248 days | Aitaira | |
| — | | Vladimir Delba (born 1974) Acting Prime Minister | 2 June 2014 | 29 September 2014 | 119 days | Independent | |
| 10 | | Beslan Butba (born 1960) | 29 September 2014 | 17 March 2015 | 169 days | PEDA | |
| — | | Shamil Adzynba (born 1970) Acting Prime Minister | 17 March 2015 | 20 March 2015 | 3 days | Independent | |
| 11 | | Artur Mikvabia (born 1949) | 20 March 2015 | 26 July 2016 | 1 year, 128 days | United Abkhazia | |
| — | | Shamil Adzynba (born 1970) Acting Prime Minister | 26 July 2016 | 5 August 2016 | 10 days | Independent | |
| 12 |  | Beslan Bartsits (born 1978) | 5 August 2016 | 25 April 2018 | 1 year, 263 days | Independent | |
| (1) | | Gennady Gagulia (1948–2018) | 25 April 2018 | 8 September 2018 | 136 days | Independent | |
| — | | Daur Arshba (born 1962) Acting Prime Minister | 8 September 2018 | 18 September 2018 | 10 days | Independent | |
| 13 |  | Valeri Bganba (born 1953) | 18 September 2018 | 23 April 2020 | 1 year, 218 days | Independent | |
| (7) | | Alexander Ankvab (born 1952) | 23 April 2020 | Incumbent | 2 years, 239 days | Aitaira | |
The office of Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia was created on 17 May 1993, during the 1992–1993 war with Georgia. Due to the diplomatic isolation of Abkhazia, which remains widely unrecognised, the role of the foreign minister has been restricted mostly to negotiations over resolving the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict. Empirical data nevertheless show that Abkhazia's Foreign Ministry also enacts diplomatic relations, such as the sending of diplomatic notes, with various countries across the world, including Nauru, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Syria. It is also active in managing relations with other post-Soviet de facto states such as South Ossetia, Transnistria, or Lugansk People's Republic.
Sergei Shamba is a senior politician from Abkhazia. He is currently a member of the People's Assembly of Abkhazia and Chairman of United Abkhazia. He was Prime Minister of Abkhazia under President Sergei Bagapsh from 13 February 2010 until 27 September 2011. Between 1997 and 2010 he had been Minister for Foreign Affairs under both Bagapsh and his predecessor Vladislav Ardzinba, with only a half-year interruption in 2004. Shamba has twice unsuccessfully participated in presidential elections, in 2004 and 2011. He has been a staunch proponent for dialogue between Abkhazia and Georgia.
Aitaira is a public association in Abkhazia. It is co-chaired by former Prime Minister Leonid Lakerbaia.
The Government of the Republic of Abkhazia governs the partially recognised Republic of Abkhazia.
Gagra District is a district of Abkhazia. It corresponds to the Georgian district by the same name. In medieval times, it was known as the southern part of Sadzen. It is located in the western part of Abkhazia, and the river Psou serves as a border with Krasnodar Krai of Russia. Its capital is Gagra, the town by the same name. The population of the Gagra town zone in 1989 was 77,079, but this number dropped dramatically following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the 1992-1993 war in Abkhazia,, to 37,002 at the time of the 2003 census. Ethnic Armenians now constitute a plurality in the district.
Presidential elections were held in Abkhazia on 3 October 2004, the first that were competitive. Election law prohibited incumbent President Vladislav Ardzinba from running for a third term and he instead backed Prime Minister Raul Khadjimba, who also enjoyed support from the Russian authorities. Khadjimba's main opponent was Sergei Bagapsh, who was supported by the two major opposition parties, United Abkhazia and Amtsakhara, and later also by Aitaira when their candidate Alexander Ankvab was barred from running in a controversial decision by the Central Election Commission.
Presidential elections were held in Abkhazia on 12 December 2009, the fourth such elections since the post of President of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia was created in 1994. The result was a victory for incumbent president Sergei Bagapsh, who received 63% of the vote, winning a second term in office. Bagapsh competed against four opposition candidates: former vice president and prime minister Raul Khajimba, who came second behind Bagapsh in the 2004 presidential election, and newcomers Beslan Butba, Zaur Ardzinba and Vitali Bganba. Khajimba had stated that he, Ardzinba and Butba would support each other should one of them reach the second round of the election. Bagapsh was inaugurated on 12 February 2010.
Beslan Butba is a businessman and a former Prime Minister of Abkhazia. He owns Abkhazia's only private television station Abaza TV and is the chairman of the Party of the Economic Development of Abkhazia. Butba was an unsuccessful candidate in the December 2009 presidential election.
The Government of President Sergei Bagapsh was the Government of the Republic of Abkhazia from 2005 until 2011.
The Government of President Vladislav Ardzinba was the first Government of the Republic of Abkhazia.
The Government of President Alexander Ankvab was the Government of the Republic of Abkhazia from 2011 until 2014.
The 5th convocation of the People's Assembly of Abkhazia took office following the 2012 elections on 3 April 2012 and was replaced by the 6th convocation following the 2017 elections.
Leonid Yurivich Dzapshba is a two-time Minister for Internal Affairs of Abkhazia, a former Presidential candidate and the former head of the Football Federation of Abkhazia.
The Minister for Internal Affairs holds a ministerial position in the government of the Republic of Abkhazia. The post existed in the Soviet period within the Council of Ministers of the Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, and since then has been occupied by 10 politicians, of whom three have occupied it twice. The current Minister is Aslan Kobakhia.
The Government of President Raul Khajimba was the Government of the Republic of Abkhazia from 2014 until 2020.
Shamil Adzynba is the current First Vice Premier of Abkhazia in the Government of President Khajimba, and a two-time acting Prime Minister.
Artur Mikvabia is an economist and politician from Abkhazia. He was Prime Minister in the Government of President Khajimba between 20 March 2015 and 26 July 2016.
Konstantin Katsia is a former Chairman of the State Committee for State Property Management and Privatisation of Abkhazia.
Vakhtang Pipia is the current Chairman of the State Committee for State Property and Privatisation of Abkhazia in the Government of President Khajimba, and a former Vice Premier.
Daur Arshba is an Abkhazian politician. He is the Head of the Presidential Administration, having been appointed by President Raul Khajimba on 10 October 2016, and Chairman of the pro-government Forum for the National Unity of Abkhazia. In the past, he has served as Vice Speaker of the People's Assembly and as Head of Tkvarcheli District. Following the death of Gennadi Gagulia on 8 September 2018, Arshba was appointed Acting Prime Minister of Abkhazia, a position he held until 18 September 2018.
