The pro -Russian candidate took first place in the elections of the President of Abkhazia, but did not gain enough votes for victory. A second round has been appointed

On February 15, the presidential early elections were held in Abkhazia. As the chairman of the local Central Election Commission Dmitry Marshan said on the morning of February 16, the second round of elections was appointed, in which the acting President Badra Gunba and Minister of Economics, Deputy Prime Minister Adgur Ardzinba, was held.

According to preliminary data, the voices were distributed as follows:

Badra Gunba - 46%

Adgur Ardzinba - 37%

Robert Arshba (head of the control chamber of Abkhazia) - 7%

Oleg Bartsitz (former Torgmad of Abkhazia in Russia) - 4%

Adgur Khurhumal (banker) - 1%

To win the first round, the candidate needed to get 50% plus one vote. The second round should take place in two weeks.

Shortly before the elections, at the end of January, the deputy head of the Russian Presidential Administration, a native of Sukhumi Sergey Kiriyenko, came to Abkhazia. The media call him the “new curator” of Abkhazia, although officially the role of Kiriyenko was not reported in Russian-Abkhaz relations. Kiriyenko met with Badra Gunba in Abkhazia, then Gunba flew to Moscow and held another meeting with Kiriyenko, as well as negotiations with the heads of Russian Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Transport. The media noted that the Russian authorities want to see the new president of Abkhazia to Gunb.

In early February, the Deputy Minister of Economic Development of Russia Dmitry Volvach said that Moscow allocated 343 million rubles to Abkhazia for the payment of salaries to state employees. At a meeting with the Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation, Roman Starovot Badra Gunba said that at the beginning of the summer season it is planned to launch regular flights from Moscow to the Sukhumi reconstructed airport. The very next day, Sukhumi Airport, which remained closed for 30 years, accepted the first test flight from Moscow. The aircraft of the Russian airline SEVT Aero flew from Vnukovo.

Extraordinary presidential elections were appointed as a result of a political crisis caused by mass protests that began in November against an agreement with Russia, according to which significant tax benefits are provided to Russian investors. As a result, President of Abkhazia Aslan Bzhania and Prime Minister Alexander Ankvab resigned. The acting president was the vice president of Badra Gunba, and the prime minister was the ex-speaker of the parliament Valery Bganba. In early December, the Parliament of Abkhazia rejected the ratification of the agreement with Russia, which caused protests.

Against the backdrop of these events, Abkhazia encountered an energy crisis due to an emergency stop at the only Inguric hydroelectric power station in the Republic of Ingur. The energy saving mode was introduced, in the daytime light was included only for a few hours. At the end of December, Russia began humanitarian supply of electricity to Abkhazia.