Alexander Ankvab

Infobox Prime Minister
name=Alexander Ankvab
Алықьсандр Анқәаб


order=10th Prime Minister of Abkhazia
term_start=February 14, 2005
term_end=
president=Sergei Bagapsh
predecessor=Nodar Khashba
successor=
order2=Minister of the Interior of Abkhazia
term_start2=1992
term_end2=1993
president2=Vladislav Ardzinba
predecessor2=
successor2=
birth_date=December 26, 1952
birth_place=Sukhumi, Abkhazian ASSR, Georgian SSR, USSR
party=Aytayra
religion=
spouse=

Alexander (or Aleksandr) Zolotinskovich Ankvab (Abkhaz: "Алықьсандр Золотинска-иUnicode|ҧа Анқәаб" /ankwab/; born December 26, 1952, Sukhumi) is the de facto Prime Minister of Abkhazia, a breakaway republic of Georgia. Appointed to the post by Abkhaz president Sergei Bagapsh on February 14, 2005, he is closely allied with Bagapsh and serves as the leader of the influential political party, Aitaira (Revival). [ [http://www.civil.ge/eng/detail.php?id=15400 Abkhaz PM Survives Assassination Attempt] . Civil Georgia. July 9, 2007.]

Born in the Abkhaz capital Sukhumi, Ankvab graduated with a degree in law from the Rostov State University in southern Russia and worked as an official of the Komsomol for many years. He served between 1975-1981 as an official in the Justice Ministry of the Abkhaz ASSR. He joined the executive of the central committee of the Georgian Communist Party in 1981, being promoted to the post of deputy interior minister of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1984. He held this post until the end of Communist rule in Georgia in 1990.

After the disintegration of the Soviet Union and Georgia's achievement of independence in 1991, Ankvab became a member of the Abkhaz Supreme Soviet. He was appointed interior minister of Abkhazia's separatist government during the 1992-1993 conflict with the Georgian central government. Following the Abkhaz victory, he moved to Moscow in 1994 and became a successful businessman.

He returned to Abkhazian politics in 2000, setting up a movement called Aytayra ("Revival") in opposition to the government of the then President Vladislav Ardzinba. In 2004 he announced that he would run for president, but was disqualified as ineligible on the grounds of an inability to speak Abkhaz (a requirement for public office in the republic) and too short a period of residency in Abkhazia. Ankvab decided to support Bagapsh instead and was crucial to the latter's electoral success. His appointment as prime minister was widely predicted.

Assassination attempts

Ankvab has survived three assassination attempts since he took office in 2005. In the last attack, on July 9, 2007, he was lightly injured when his vehicle was fired upon from a grenade cup discharger on the road between Sukhumi and Gudauta. [ [http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/09/europe/EU-GEN-Georgia-Abkhazia-Attack.php Officials: PM of ex-Soviet Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia region injured in attack] . International Herald Tribune, July 9, 2007.] The Abkhaz People's Assembly called government to timely investigate the attack and accused "destructive forces active both inside and outside Abkhazia" of trying to destabilize the situation in Abkhazia. [ [http://www.regnum.ru/english/polit/854515.html Abkhaz MPs call government to investigate attack on Ankvab] . "Regnum", July 11, 2007.] The de facto Abkhaz Interior Ministry has declared a 500,000-Russian ruble reward for information leading to the capture of the attackers, who are thought to be local. There are a variety of suggested motives for the attack. An influential Georgian MP Konstantine Gabashvili accused the Russian special services of trying to get rid of Akvab who has recently suggested inventorying real estate in Abkhazia and reexamining all illegal real estate transactions, including those involving Russian companies. [ [http://www.kommersant.com/p781327/assassination_breakaway_republics A Fourth Attack on the Abkhazian PM] . "Kommersant". July 10, 2007.]

References

* "Former Georgian minister says new Abkhaz premier will be strong leader", Imedi TV, Tbilisi, 14 February 2005
* "Ankvab appointed Abkhaz prime minister", Interfax Daily News Bulletin, 14 February 2005