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Bagapsh, Sergei Vasilyevich
President of the Republic of Abkhazia
 Soviet years, accession to prominence
Sergei Bagapsh (Сергей Васильевич Багапш; Сергеи Уасыл-иҧа Багаҧшь {in Abkhaz}) was born on April 4, 1949 in the town of Sukhumi, the then capital of the Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union. He is an Abkhaz national.
In 1971 Bagapsh graduated from the Georgian University of Subtropical Agriculture. As a student, he worked in a wine co-op and as a bank cashier.
In 1972 Bagapsh was appointed chief of the agronomical department of the Moscow Olive Oil state farm. From 1973 to 1974 he served in the Soviet Armed Forces. Afterwards, Bagapsh served as an instructor for the Abkhaz regional Komsomol. In 1978 he held the position of head of Information Sector of the Komsomol Central Committee of Georgia. The following year, he was chief of industrial and agricultural youth workers of Komsomol Central Committee of Georgia.
In 1980, Bagapsh was made First Secretary of Komsomol regional committee in Abkhazia. In 1982 he was appointed Secretary of the Ochamchira district committee of the Communist Party of Georgia.
Media reports suggest that in 1989, when the first signs of conflicts erupted between Abkhazians and Georgians, Bagapsh was in charge of those who decided to repel intrusions of Georgian forces in the Abkhazian town of Ochamchira; during which time, he was wounded in the neck.
In 1992, Bagapsh was appointed First Deputy of the Chairman of the Soviet of Ministers of the Abkhaz Socialist Republic. According to media reports, during the Georgian-Abkhazian War of 1992-1993 Bagapsh, as the head of a voluntarily formed group, took part in an assault in Sukhumi, which had been seized by Georgian forces. In 1995 Bagapsh was made vice-president of the de facto republic of Abkhazia; two years later, in 1997, he became prime-minister of Abkhazia. In 1999, however, Bagapsh left his governmental duties to pursue a career in business. In 2001 he became general director of the Abkhaz energy state-owned company ChernoMorEnergo.
2004 Abkhazian presidential elections
In 2004 Bagapsh's candidacy for president of Abkhazia was put forward by the newly founded United Abkhazia political party and the Amtsakhara Association of veterans from the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict. Media reports indicated at the time that Bagapsh's candidacy was lobbied by the chairman of the Management Board of Unified Energy System Anatoly Chubais.
On October 3, 2004 the Abkhazian presidential elections took place. Following a series of contradictory decisions by the Central Election Committee of Abkhazia, the Supreme Court later found that Bagapsh had won with 50.3 percent of the vote. His main contender, Raul Khadjimba, did not concede defeat following the official outcome of the election. Hadzhimba's supporters held protest meetings for several weeks across Abkhazia. Abkhazia's outgoing President Vladislav Ardzinba claimed the decision was illegal and made under pressure from supporters of Bagapsh. The decision was cancelled by the Supreme Court the night of the same day. When supporters of Raul Khadjimba seized the building of the Supreme Court and destroyed the protocols from local electoral constituencies new elections were prescribed. However, in early December, Bagapsh and Khadjimba reached an agreement to run together on a national unity ticket. New elections were held on January 12, 2005, with this ticket easily winning. Under the agreement, Bagapsh ran for president and Khadjimba ran for vice-president. Following the latest round of elections, Bagapsh was appointed president, while Khadjimba was made vice president.
Taking charge of Abkhazia
On June 14, 2006, at a summit in Sukhumi, the heads of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transdniestria - Bagapsh, Eduard Kokoity and Igor Smirnov - signed a declaration of cooperation. In the document the signatories concluded on the intention of the de facto republics to create joint peacekeeping forces in the event that Russian peacekeepers leave the conflict zones. Moreover, the document underlined the aspiration of the three aforementioned territories to develop diplomatic relations with Moscow.
On July 26, 2006, at the time of Georgian armed forces in the Kodori Gorge, Bagapsh declared that if the Georgian forces would cross the border into Abkhaz territory, the Abkhaz contingent would have no choice but to open fire. However, Georgia announced that it did not breach any peace agreements as only police and special forces operated inside the gorge. As a result of this conflict, Georgia took control of the Kodori Gorge, while the pro-Georgian Government of Abkhazia in Exile, led by Malkhaz Akishbaia, was located in the village of Chkhalta.
In October 2006, the Abkhaz parliament made an address to the then Russian president Vladimir Putin with the request to recognize the independence of the de facto republic and establish “associated relations” between Abkhazia and Russia. Bagapsh declared Russia as the guarantor of Abkhaz independence.
At the end of December 2006, following the killing of Otar Turnanba, chief of the Galsky Region police force in Abkhazia, Bagapsh was compelled to inform the Abkhazian army to be on high alert and accused Georgia of provocation.
From October 2007, Georgian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) began to fly over Abkhazian territory. In response to this, Bagapsh warned that Abkhazia would bring them down. Thus, on March 18, 2008, a fighter jet from the Abkhaz Air Force brought down a Georgian UAV over the former’s territory. On April 20 of the same year, another such UAV was brought down over Abkhazian land; however, Georgia affirmed that on this occasion, the UAV was shot down by a MiG-29 from the Russian Air Force. The report by a special UN commission concluded that the UAV was indeed shot down by the Russian aircraft. In May, another three UAVs were brought down over Abkhazia.
After the beginning of the South Ossetian War of August 2008, Bagapsh declared that Abkhazia was ready to open a “second front” against the Georgian army, and welcomed the introduction of Russian forces into Georgia, as well as the assistance of the Black Sea fleet to defend the Abkhazian coastline from Georgian rocket vessels.
On August 8, Abkhazia initiated a rocket-launching bombardment of Georgian positions in the Kodori Gorge; on August 10, Abkhaz sub-units entered the gorge. During this time, Bagapsh promised to restore control over the gorge within several days; on August 12, Abkhazia landed 250 personnel in the vicinity of Chkhalta; already on August 13, it was declared that the operation of supplanting Georgian formations from the eastern part of the gorge was completed. Official representatives from Georgia also confirmed the pull-out of troops from the gorge.
On August 25, 2008, Russia began the procedure in recognizing the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The Federal Assembly of Russia (the State Duma and the Federation Council) unanimously voted to urge President Dmitry Medvedev to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states. Addressing members of the upper parliamentary chamber – the Federation Council, Bagapsh declared that “independence is not simply defined, but is decided upon by the fate of small nations, which also wish to live in the palette of every nation of the world.” On the following day, Medvedev agreed, signing a decree officially recognizing the two entities.
In mid-September 2008, Bagapsh announced that Abkhazia plans to make an application for the participation in the supranational entity, the Union State of Russia and Belarus, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and, in the long term, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). He reminded that the Abkhaz people had voted in a referendum for independence and, hence, has no desire to be integrated into Russia. Bagapsh affirmed that Abkhazia intends to become “a democratic, legal, demilitarized state.”
Personal
Bagapsh is married and has a son and a daughter. His son Zurab, a graduate of Moscow State Law Academy, is serving in the Abkhazian army as a lieutenant on the Abkhaz-Georgian border.
Bagapsh is a keen hunter and gardener. In his youth, he played basketball and took part in the now defunct international sporting event, the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR. In April 2008, Bagapsh received medical treatment in Moscow for stenocardia.
Related Sources
Lenta.Ru, Biography of Sergei Bagapsh (In Russian)
Last updated September 15, 2008
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