Sergei Bagapsh

Sergei Wasyl-ipa Bagapsh (Abkhaz: Сергеи Уасыл-иҧа Багаҧшь) (born March 4, 1949, Sukhumi) is the President of the partially recognized de facto independent Republic of Abkhazia, which is recognized by most countries as de jure part of Georgia. A former Prime Minister from 1997 to 1999, he was elected as President in 2005.
Sergei Bagapsh was born March 4 1949 in Sukhumi. Throughout most of his life he has lived in Abkhazia. Bagapsh graduated from the Georgian State University of Subtropical Agriculture in Sukhumi. During his studies he worked first in a wine cooperative and later as a security guard for the state bank. In 1972 he fulfilled his military service as the head of a sovkhoz following which he became instructor with the Abkhazian regional committee of the Komsomol. In 1978 Bagapsh became responsible for information in the central committee of the Komsomol's Georgian branch and in 1980 first secretary of the Abkhazian regional committee. In 1982 Sergei Bagapsh became secretary general of the communist party in the Ochamchira district. After the fall of communism, Bagapsh became a businessman and the representative of the Abkhazian government in Moscow.