Executive Branch
The executive branch of the Abkhazian central government consists of the President and his cabinet.
The president of Abkhazia is Sergei Bagapsh. Bagapsh was elected president by direct popular vote in 2005. Before that, he served as Prime Minister of Abkhazia from 1997 to 1999.
Bagapsh was born in Sukhum March 4, 1949, in what was then the Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia. He graduated from the Georgian State University of Subtropical Agriculture in Sukhum and served as the military head of a collective farm. He was the information director in the Communist Youth Organization's Georgian branch and later secretary general of the communist party in Abkazia's Ochamchira district. After the fall of communism, Bagapsh became a businessman and the representative of the Abkhazian government in Moscow. From 2000 to 2004, Sergei Bagapsh directed the state-owned power company Chernomorenergo.
Presidential Cabinet
- Prime Minister Alexander Ankvab
- Vice Premier Leonid Lakerbaia
- Vice Premier Alexander Stranichkin
- Minister of Defense, Vice Premier Mirab Kishmaria
- Minister of Finance, Vice Premier Beslan Kubrava
- Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergei Shamba
- Minister of Internal Affairs Otar Khetsiya
- Minister of Justice Lyudmila Khodzhashvili
- Minister of Economy Kristina Ozgan
- Minister for Taxes and Fees Vakhtang Pipia
- Minister of Agriculture Vitali Smyr
- Minister of Labour and Social Security Olga Koltukova
- Minister of Health Zurab Marshaniya
- Minister of Education Indira Vardaniya
- Minister of Culture Nugzar Logua
- Chairman of the State Customs Committee Grigori Enik
- Chairman of the Defense and National Security Committee Garik Samanba
- Chairman of the State Committee for Management of State Property and Privatization Konstantin Katsia
- Chairman of the State Committee for Resorts and Tourism Tengiz Lakerbay
- Chairman of the State Committee on Youth and Sport Rafael Ampar
- Chairman of the State Committee for Repatriation Anzor Mukba
- Chairman of the State Committee for Standards, Metrology and Certification Nerses Nersesan
- Chairman of the State Forestry Committee Adolf Shamba
