Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 17, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 26, 2026
Abkhazia's presidential election will proceed to a second round as no candidate won a majority. Acting President Gunba and opposition leader Ardzinba are the top contenders.
TBILISI (Reuters) - A presidential election held on Sunday in the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia produced no clear winner, setting up a second round between the top two candidates, state news agency Apsnypress said.
Apsnypress, citing Abkhazia's electoral commission, reported that acting President Badra Gunba had taken 46% of the vote, while opposition leader Adgur Ardzinba had taken almost 37%.
Gunba, who was previously vice president, took over as Abkhazia's leader in November, after his predecessor was driven from office by protests against an investment agreement with Russia.
It was the third time since 2014 that an Abkhazian leader had been driven from office by mass protests.
A lush, Black Sea coastal territory of around 240,000 people, Abkhazia broke away from Georgia after a war in the early 1990s, with the support of Russia. Moscow recognised Abkhazia as independent after another war in 2008.
Tens of thousands of ethnic Georgians were expelled from the region, and most countries, bar a handful, consider Abkhazia to be part of Georgia.
Though the territory is politically and economically dependent on Russia, some Abkhazians have been critical of what they see as Moscow's growing influence in the breakaway state.
(Reporting by Felix Light; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
The article discusses the presidential election in Abkhazia, a breakaway region of Georgia, which is moving to a second round due to no clear winner.
The main candidates are acting President Badra Gunba and opposition leader Adgur Ardzinba.
Abkhazia is a breakaway region of Georgia, recognized by Russia, and has been a point of conflict due to its political and economic ties with Moscow.
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