Bagapsch Sergej

Date of Birth:04.04.1949

Place of Birth. Education. Born in Suchumi. In 1971, he graduated from the Georgian Institute of Subtropical Agriculture as an agronomist.

Career. During his studies, he worked as a laborer in a distillery and as a collector at the state bank.

In 1972, he was the head of the agronomic department of the Moscow Ether Oil State Farm, after which he served in the military and then became a trainer in the Abkhazian Oblast Committee of the Komsomol.

Since 1978, he headed the information sector of the Central Committee of the Leninist Communist Youth Union of Georgia and later the Department for Labor and Rural Youth of the Central Committee of the Leninist Communist Youth Union of Georgia.

From 1980, he was the First Secretary of the Abkhazian Oblast Committee of the Leninist Communist Youth Union of Georgia.

From 1982, he was the First Secretary of the Ochamchira District Committee of the Party of Georgia.

From 1992, he was the First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Abkhazian ASSR.

From 1993, he was the First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the self-proclaimed Republic of Abkhazia.

From 1995, he was the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Abkhazia.

From 1997 to 1999, he was the Prime Minister of the Republic of Abkhazia. After his resignation, he held the position of General Director of the Abkhaz energy company Chernomorenergo.

In August 2004, he was nominated by the socio-political movement United Abkhazia, which was founded by the intellectual and bureaucratic elite of the Republic, as a candidate for the presidency of the Republic of Abkhazia. His candidacy was also actively supported by the socio-political movement 'Amtsakhara' ('Clan Lights', a movement of veterans of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict of 1992-1993).

On February 12, 2005, he became the second President of the Republic of Abkhazia, which is not recognized by Georgia and other United Nations member states.

Views and Opinions. According to some media reports, Bagapsch actively participated in the first armed clashes between Abkhazians and Georgians in 1989.

In 2004, he ran for presidency under the slogan 'The necessity to change the authoritarianism that has existed in the Republic for 11 years'. He stated that he sees Abkhazia as an independent state with a 'deepened integration of the Russian economy into the Abkhaz economy on mutually beneficial terms'.

After the elections in the Republic, an extremely tense situation arose, which could have ended in an internal armed conflict. At that time, the de facto leader of the country, Raul Khajimba, a war veteran of the Patriotic War of the People of Abkhazia 1992-1993 and Prime Minister of Abkhazia, resisted handing power to Bagapsch, who was accused of having close ties to Georgia. After negotiations with the opponent, a compromise was reached, and it was agreed to run as a united bloc in the elections: Bagapsch as President, Khajimba as Vice President (after the elections he took this position as agreed).

In June 2006, the leaders of the unrecognized republics of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Transnistria - Bagapsch, Eduard Kokoity, and Igor Smirnov - signed a cooperation declaration at the summit in Suchumi. The document emphasized the intention of these unrecognized republics to establish joint peacekeeping forces if the Russian peacekeeping forces were withdrawn from the conflict zones. Moreover, the three post-Soviet territories emphasized in the document their desire to develop relations with Moscow.

Social Activities. President of the Basketball Federation of Abkhazia.

Family. The politician was married and left behind his son Zurab (a graduate of the Moscow State Law Academy) and his daughter Liana (a graduate of the Sechenov Moscow Medical Academy).

Hobbies. Hunting, gardening, sports.

Death. On May 29, 2011, he died in a Moscow hospital from lung cancer.

30.05.2011