On the birthday of Gennady Gagulia, the WAC web information portal offers readers an essay with memories of the life, personal and professional qualities of this prominent statesman who tragically died on September 8 last year.
Arifa Kapba
Gennady Gagulia was the country's Prime Minister three times. He is considered the founder of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic. His managerial skills were extremely important in the difficult post-war period, and his diplomatic skills influenced the formation of the image of Abkhazia.
Gennady Leonidovich Gagulia was born on January 4, 1948 in the village of Lykhny, Gudauta District. The Gagulia family was very proud of one of the ancestors, a representative of the Dzug-ipa clan (an old form of the Gagulia family name - ed.), who in terrible for Abkhazia times of forced resettlement in the 19th century refused to leave his native land and tried to dissuade his relatives from this. Gennady Gagulia’s father, Leonid Gagulia, was a respected man in the village who for a long time headed the Lykhny village council, or, as they said in those times, was a “foreman”.
After graduation, eighteen-year-old Gennady Gagulia went to study in Minsk, enrolling in the department of industrial civil engineering of the Belarusian Polytechnic Institute (now Belarusian National Technical University - ed.).
Gagulia always remembered with great warmth his student years. In one of the television interviews, he said that he liked the Belarusians who were direct and honest in their liking, he himself was the only Abkhaz in the whole institute where 25 thousand students studied at that time.
From construction to politics
After graduating from high school in 1972, Gennady Gagulia worked for several years in construction, having gone from being a foreman, chief engineer to a head of a construction site. In 1977, Gennady Leonidovich became deputy director of the catering complex of Ritsa Lake and worked in this position for nine years. Then for a long time, until 1991, he was the chairman of the Gudauta district consumer cooperation.
The political career of Gennady Gagulia began with the post of the chairman of the State Committee on Foreign Economic Relations of the Council of Ministers of the Abkhaz ASSR. From 1992 to 1995, Gagulia was the Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, and from 1995 to 1997, he occupied the post of Prime Minister of the Republic and became the second person in the state after Vladislav Ardzinba.
At the beginnings of a new independent state
According to the story of a political and public figure Vyacheslav Tsugba, Ardzinba chose Gagulia’s candidacy for the premiership not by accident, but by assessing his activities in providing logistics services during the war, his remarkable organizational skills.
“Gennady Leonidovich left a big mark in the modern history of Abkhazia, notes Tsugba. - He was one of those who stood with Vladislav Grigorievich Ardzinba at the origins of the creation of a new independent Abkhaz state. Everything was for us then for the first time and a novelty. In fact, the arrival of Gennady Leonidovich to the post of Prime Minister was a completely new phenomenon for both our young state and for himself. He coped with the task with honor. We can say that the structure that he created at that time works to this day.”
Gennady Leonidovich had to head the Cabinet of Ministers in the conditions of the hardest economic blockade, financial ruin. According to Vyacheslav Tsugba, in this situation the Prime Minister managed to form a capable government.
“Gennady Leonidovich, like no one else, was able to select personnel, combining experience and youth, and this gave good results. He was a man of principle, a man of discipline and self-discipline, but he was also a good friend and caring leader, which earned him the love and respect of everyone who worked with him,” notes Vyacheslav Tsugba, who was the head of the government office when Gagulia was the Prime Minister of Abkhazia.
The foreign policy activity of Gagulia is also rich, even in the most difficult times. Before recognition of the independence of Abkhazia by Russia, Gennady Gagulia participated in international meetings at the highest level. “He was one of the first Abkhaz politicians who met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with Russian statesman Viktor Chernomyrdin and many others, resolved issues related to Abkhazia with them, although our republic was not yet recognized,” Tsugba notes.
Abkhazia - first on the list
Gennady Gagulia held the position of the Prime Minister three times: in 2002, he came to this position, replacing Anri Dzherghenia, and for the third time he became the head of the government of Abkhazia in April 2018, several months before his tragic death.
“One of the most unusual and memorable for me was a story about a quadripartite meeting of representatives of Georgia, Abkhazia, Russian peacekeepers and UN observers in the Gal district in 2003, recalls the successor to Gennady Gagulia as president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Abkhazia Tamila Mertskhulava. - At that time, Gennady Leonidovich served as the Prime Minister. This meeting was notable because Heidi Tagliavini, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Georgia, was present for the first time. At the meeting was discussed the extension of the mandate of peacekeepers, the return of refugees to the Gal district and, of course, the sovereignty of the Republic of Abkhazia. Addressing Madame Tagliavini, Gennady Leonidovich made an unexpected statement for her that “the day will come, and soon when Abkhazia is recognized, it will be placed first in the list of countries of the world, followed by America”. Tagliavini, of course, was indignant and asked the question: “How do you imagine this?” To which Gennady Leonidovich answered that “according to the classifier of the countries of the world and the letter code of the country AB, Abkhazia is located at the beginning, and USA (America) after it”.
In 2005, Gennady Gagulia founded and later headed the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Abkhazia, and it was in this organization that his bright, extraordinary gift of a leader was revealed with even greater force. Many absolutely rightly believe that the Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the time of the leadership of Gagulia became an unofficial partner of the Abkhaz Foreign Ministry in promoting the image of the Republic at the international level. Under the leadership of Gagulia, numerous business trips to foreign countries were carried out, in the framework of which a delegation of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Abkhazia took part in exhibitions and fairs, representing the Republic along with famous world powers.
Diplomacy from Gagulia
Participant of many international and foreign meetings of Gagulia as president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Tamila Mertskhulava, notes that he was a great diplomat - although not by training. He possessed the gift of persuasion, sometimes people argued with him, objected to him, but listened to him, and with his behavior he was easily winning people of different ages, opinions and political convictions.
Here is just another example. Once, Georgia announced another protest note at the Czech Foreign Ministry regarding the participation of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Abkhazia in the international tourism fair Holliday World Top Gastro & Hotel in Prague. However, Gennady Gagulia managed so cleverly to handle this situation, that the exhibition organizers did not pay any attention to the attempts of the Georgian embassy to thwart the participation of the Abkhaz side, but they gave the Abkhaz delegation official full-time security.
Surprised that this provocation from Georgia eventually turned out so well, Tamila Mertskhulava asked her manager how he managed to achieve such favor of the exhibition organizers.
To which Gagulia replied: “A person, one can say, is a model of a nation. The whole nation is judged by each of us, this is the phenomenon of generalizing perception. Become a master - and we respect your people! Here is the formula of patriotism, which is accessible to everyone ... The mechanics are simple: raising masters, giving free rein to talents, we reduce spaces where dullness and envy are lurking. You want to be the son of a proud and honest people - be proud and honest.”
Recognition of the independence of Abkhazia by the Syrian-Arab Republic also did not pass without the active preparatory work of Gennady Gagulia and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which he headed, Tsugba is sure: “He was one of the first to establish contacts in this country in the area of the activities of the CCI. The delegations headed by him took part in exhibitions in Damascus at a time when both departure and participation were a serious problem. Through personal meetings, establishing contacts, he also managed to “prepare” questions related to recognition. And in this regard, it is especially sad that he died just in those days when our official delegation visited Damascus and was returning from there.”
“He valued us all”
Thanks to his personal attitude, inexhaustible hard work and the ban imposed on the notion of “impossible”, Gennady Gagulia managed to create in the Chamber of Commerce a powerful, incredibly efficient and creative team of professionals, which then, as now, consisted mainly of young employees.
“Gennady Leonidovich showed in his work the firmness of character, pointed out the main guidelines on the way to the result. He organized the work of each employee, was able to speak openly and convincingly on any topics. Being a competent leader, he was in a continuous process of self-education, personal growth and self-improvement. He never settle for the achieved professional level, he knew that by constantly developing himself, one could achieve the maximum disclosure of creativity and the realization of creative potential. Responsibility for people, first of all for those who trusted him, helped him to achieve heights in management, love and devotion of the team,” Tamila Mertskhulava notes.
Without exception, employees of the CCI treat the period of working with Gagulia as an invaluable experience in their lives, calling Gennady Leonidovich not only a leader, but also a great mentor, friend, person who was never indifferent to them, but quite the opposite showed the deepest participation and care.
“He cherished us all, and the team, in turn, not only loved, but adored their leader,” Mertskhulava said. - Gennady Leonidovich willingly shared his knowledge and experience, which in our time is becoming rare. I think that the desire of young people to become part of the staff of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry is especially evident in recent years, when young specialists make every effort to get a job in the Chamber, says about the outstanding authority, professionalism, respect and humanity of its founder. Despite his age, he was with the team on an equal footing, it was always entertaining and easy with him.”
Gagulia’s diligence and ability to work were the talk of the town. After a working day, Gennady Leonidovich loved to work in his own personal garden, where he grew tangerines and kiwi. Often he brought his own grown fruits to work and treated everyone.
The current president of the Chamber of Commerce of Abkhazia Tamila Mertskhulava believes that it is exactly the eight years of experience working shoulder to shoulder with Gennady Gagulia in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, his mentoring and advice helped her to start as an ordinary employee and become a manager.
Mertskhulava is convinced that all the successes that the chamber is currently making are based on the foundation laid by Gagulia: “Gennady Leonidovich became the main mentor in my life. I learned from him discipline and patience, love of country, devotion to my work, ability to take risks in order to achieve the desired result. I have always appreciated his kind attitude towards me, I tried and still try to be like him in many respects,” Mertskhulava said.
Gennady Gagulia’s life was cut tragically short: he died in a car accident on September 8, 2018, returning to Sukhum as part of a government convoy that was carrying the Abkhaz delegation that completed the visit to Syria. The Prime Minister died on the way to the hospital. His sudden departure from life was a shock not only for his family and relatives, but also for the citizens of Abkhazia, who associated great hopes with his activities as the Prime Minister.
Gennady Gagulia and his spouse Zaira Otyrba have a son Astamur Gagulia (businessman) and a daughter Asida Gagulia (doctor).
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