The prime minister of Abkhazia is the ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a ...

of the partially recognized

Republic of Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which v ...

, that is ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legall ...

'' part of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

History

Government of President Vladislav Ardzinba

While the

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified by ...

was held by one man –

Vladislav Ardzinba Vladislav Ardzinba ( ab, Владислав Арӡынба, ka, ვლადისლავ არძინბა; 14 May 1945 – 4 March 2010) was the first ''de facto'' President of Abkhazia. A historian by education, Ardzinba led Abkhazia t ...

– 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 The Constitution of the Republic of Abkhazia (russian: Конститу́ция Респу́блики Абха́зия) was adopted by the Supreme Council of the Republic of Abkhazia of the 12th convocation on 26 November 1994, and by the nationa ...

, and Gennady Gagulia was appointed to the position in January 1995.

Government of President Sergei Bagapsh

After

Sergei Bagapsh Sergei Uasyl-ipa Bagapsh, ka, სერგეი ბაგაფში, russian: Сергей Васильевич Багапш, translit=Sergey Vasilyevich Bagapsh (4 March 1949 – 29 May 2011) was an Abkhaz politician who served as th ...

succeeded Ardzinba to the presidency in February 2005, he appointed

Alexander Ankvab Aleksandr Zolotinskovich Ankvab ( ; ab, Алықьсандр Золотинска-иԥа Анқәаб, ka, ალექსანდრე ზოლოტინსკის ძე ანქვაბი, russian: Алекса́ндр Золот� ...

as Prime Minister. Ankvab was Bagapsh's

vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

ial candidate in the 12 December 2009 presidential election, 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 Leonid Lakerbaia (, ; born 1 January 1947 in Kutaisi), was the Prime Minister of Abkhazia in the Government of President Ankvab from 27 September 2011 until his resignation on 2 June 2014 following the 2014 Abkhazian political crisis. Lakerbaia ...

. Bagapsh and Ankvab won the election, and on 13 February 2010, Ankvab was succeeded by long-time

minister for foreign affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

Sergei Shamba.

Government of President Alexander Ankvab

After Alexander Ankvab defeated Sergei Shamba in the 2011 presidential election,

became Prime Minister. On 2 June 2014, Lakerbaia resigned as a result of the

Abkhazian Revolution The Abkhazian Revolution took place in 2014, when President Aleksandr Ankvab resigned after hundreds of demonstrators stormed his office. After mass protests in the capital Sukhumi and the occupation of his office on 27 May, Ankvab fled to his ho ...

and Vice Premier

Vladimir Delba Vladimir Valerevich Delba is a politician from Abkhazia, who served as acting Prime Minister, Finance Minister and Vice Premier in the Government of President Ankvab. After serving as Deputy Minister for Finance in the Government of President Ba ...

was appointed acting prime minister.

Government of President Raul Khajimba

The 2014 presidential election was won by opposition leader

Raul Khajimba Raul Jumkovich Khajimba ( ab, Рауль Џьумка-иҧа Ҳаџьымба, ka, რაულ ჯუმკას-ძე ჰაჯიმბა; born 21 March 1958) is an Abkhazian politician, and served as President of Abkhazia from 25 September ...

, who on 29 September 2014 appointed

Beslan Butba Beslan Butba ( ab, Беслан Быҭәба, ka, ბესლან ბუთბა) (born February 7, 1960) is a businessman and a former Prime Minister of Abkhazia. He owns Abkhazia's only private television station Abaza TV and is the chairman ...

as the new prime minister. 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. Butba was finally dismissed by President Khajimba on 16 March 2015, and temporarily replaced by First Vice Premier

Shamil Adzynba Shamil Adzynba ( ab, Шамиль Аӡынба, ka, შამილ აძინბა; born 21 May 1970) is the current First Vice Premier of Abkhazia in the Government of President Khajimba, and a two-time acting Prime Minister. August 2011 P ...

. 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'. On 20 March, Khajimba appointed MP and former

United Abkhazia United Abkhazia ( ab, Аԥсны Акзаара, russian: Единая Абхазия) is a political party in Abkhazia. United Abkhazia was founded on March 25, 2004 as a socio-political movement, with the specific goal of presenting a single opp ...

chairman

Artur Mikvabia Artur Mikvabia ( ab, Артур Артиом-иԥа Амқәаб; ka, არტურ მიქვაბია; born 22 May 1949) is an economist and politician from Abkhazia. He was Prime Minister in the Government of President Khajimba between ...

as Butba's successor. 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. In an interview with

Caucasian Knot Caucasian Knot (Russian: Кавказский узел, ''Kavkazkii Uzel'') is an online news site that covers the Caucasus region in English and Russian. It was established in 2001 and Grigory Shvedov is the editor-in-chief.

, 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. Khajimba again appointed Adzynba as acting prime minister. On 5 August, he appointed newly-appointed presidential administration head Beslan Bartsits as the new Prime Minister.

List of prime ministers of Abkhazia

References

{{Prime Minister Politics of Abkhazia Abkhazia, Prime Minister of