Abkhazia Presidential Election, 2025

{{#electioninfobox:57}} The Republic of Abkhazia held a snap presidential election on February 15, 2025, following the resignation of Aslan Bzhania during the 2024 Abkhazian protests. Incumbent acting president Badra Gunba is running, alongside leader of the Abkhaz People's Movement Adgur Ardzinba, former head of Abkhazian Trade Mission Oleg Bartsits, former head of Abkhazian Audit Chamber Robert Arshba, and president of the Black Sea Development Bank Adgur Khurkhumal.

On February 16, it was announced that no candidate had secured a majority, sending the race into a runoff to be held on March 1.

Overview

Abkhazia is a disputed territory located on the intersection between Eastern Europe and West Asia, containing a population of about 245,000 people. The country is recognized by five UN members: Russia, Venezuela, Nicragua, Nauru, and Syria. However, most of the international community recognizes Abkhazia as part of Georgia, rather than an independent country.

On October 30, 2024, president Aslan Bzhania signed an agreement with Russia, giving Russian investors several benefits such as a halved VAT rate and full exemptions from taxes as long as they invested 2 billion ₽. This agreement was part of a program to harmonize the legislation of Russia and Abkhazia, which was initiated in 2020. This was widely seen as a massive cash grab, and protests against this bill emerged. Bzhania resigned, leading to this election being called. Badra Gunba, the Vice President (and current Acting President), is running against Adgur Ardzinba, the leader of the Abkhaz People's Movement.

Researcher Olesya Vartanyan has stated that high-ranking Russians - most notably Sergey Kiriyenko - are attempting to interfere with the countries elections in order to help Badra Gunba, the pro-Kremlin candidate.

Polls will be open between 08:00 (8 AM) and 20:00 (8 PM) on February 15.

Results

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