Gennady Gagulia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gennady (Genadi) Gagulia (born 1948) was the Prime Minister of the Republic of Abkhazia, a de facto independent republic of Georgia, from 1995-97 and again from 2002-03.
Gagulia has a reputation for being the most strongly pro-Russian of Abkhazia's Prime Ministers. He steadfastly opposed both reunification with Georgia and the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Georgian-Abkhaz border. He has also alluded to the possibility of Abkhazia unifying with Russia, although since his resignation, this seems less likely.
During the Georgian-Abkhaz war in the early 1990s, Gagulia was a member of the Abkhazian Defense Committee, which was responsible for, among other things, the distribution of food, at a time when Abkhazian forces only controlled a section of the country.
As Prime Minister, Gagulia was heavily involved in negotiations over the future of Abkhazia, choosing to handle negotiations himself, rather than sending envoys, as has generally been the case with other Abkhaz leaders. In this role, he has met with a number of foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and ousted former Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze.
In 1997, Gagulia resigned from the Prime Ministership, citing health reasons. In between his two stints as Prime Minister, Gagulia was the Chair of the Abkhaz Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He was also Deputy Prime Minister under Anri Jergenia, who Gagulia was later to replace when he became Prime Minister for the second time.
In 2003, Gagulia's highly unpopular government was forced to resign, against the wishes of President Vladislav Ardzinba, amidst large protests from Abkhazia's two main opposition groups, Amtsakhara and Aitara (Revival).
After resigning as Prime Minister, Gagulia took up the position as head of President Ardzinba's presidential administration, which gave him significant powers. However, in June 2004, Gagulia resigned, stating "There is a certain scenario to the presidential elections in Abkhazia. I don't match this scenario and thus I prefer to step down."
It had been tipped that Ardzinba may have also favoured Gagulia to replace him as President, but Ardzinba instead decided to back then-Prime Minister Raul Khadjimba.
| Preceded by Sokrat Djindjolia |
Prime Minister of Abkhazia 1995–1997 |
Succeeded by Sergei Bagapsh |
| Preceded by Anri Djergenia |
Prime Minister of Abkhazia 2002–2003 |
Succeeded by Raul Khadjimba |
