Aleksey Dvinianin

Former “Ambassador” of the Russian Federation to the de facto Republic of Abkhazia

Before his appointment as “Ambassador” of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Abkhazia, Aleksey Dvinianin worked on the issues regarding Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region for 13 years. He is considered to be one of the most knowledgeable diplomats about South Caucasus in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia. He was an active participant of the Geneva discussions and knows the processes unfolding in the occupied Georgian regions rather well. Unlike Tskhinvali Region, both of the “Ambassadors” that have worked in Abkhazia since 2008 are experienced diplomats, which indicates that Russia gives greater value to Abkhazia than to Tskhinvali Region.

General Biographic Information 

• Aleksey Dvinianin was born on March 5, 1967 in the city of Voronezh, in RSFSR, USSR.
• In 1989 he graduated from Moscow State Institute for International Relations.
• On January 25, 2008, the President of the Russian Federation awarded him second degree Order of Merits to Homeland.
• On August 15, 2011, he was given the title of Second Class Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.
• He is rather knowledgeable about the issues concerning South Caucasus, as well as Georgia. He is an author of articles regarding South Caucasus and frequent participant of conferences on the same topic. For example, in April 2007, Dvinianin participated in a round table discussion held in Moscow entitled “NATO’s Expansion in South Caucasus Countries and the Situation in Armenia”. In May 10, 2017 he also participated in a conference held in the Moscow House in Yerevan entitled “ Russian-Armenian Relations and Armenia’s Foreign Policy before and after the Elections”.

Professional Career

• Dvinianin’ diplomatic career started right after his graduation from the University in 1989. In different periods of time he worked in the Central Apparatus of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as representations abroad, including the Permanent Representation of Russia at the UN in New York (1995-1999) and in the Permanent Representation of OSCE in Vienna (2002-2005). During his time in OSCE, he worked on the issues regarding CIS countries and frozen conflicts in post-Soviet states.
• The issue of Georgia became Dvinianin’s sphere of responsibility after 2006, when he was appointed to the position of the Head of Regional Conflict Resolution Division of the 4th CIS Department (4ДСНГ) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 2009 to March 2018 – his appointment to the positions of “Ambassador”, he was the Deputy Director of the 4th CIS Department.
• Dvinianin was an active participant of the Geneva discussion format created after the 2008 August War. In 2011-2018 he was the Deputy Head of the Russian Delegation to Geneva Discussions and was actively involved in the process of preparing the discussions. One of his responsibilities was to prepare the topics of Geneva discussion with the representatives of occupied Georgian regions and to summarize positions. For example, on September 27, 2016, Dvinianin held a meeting with the de facto Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tskhinvali Region, Murat Jioev, about the issues regarding the Geneva discussions. From the Russian side, Marat Kulakhmetov, who was later appointed to the position of Russian “Ambassador” to Tskhinvali Region, also participated in the meeting. Dvinianin also met Jioev to talk about the same issues on September 28, 2017. According to Dvinianin’s own statement, he participated in the Geneva discussion rounds from 1st to 43rd. From the end of 2008 to March 2018, he used to visit Abkhazia twice a year to hold consultations with the de facto Government of Abkhazia.
• On March 30, 2018, at the directive of the President of the Russian Federation, Dvinianin was appointed to the position of the “Ambassador” of Russia to the Republic of Abkhazia. On May 14 he met the de facto Minister of Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia, Daur Kove. On May 15 he presented his letters of credence to the de facto President of Abkhazia, Raul Khajimba.
• On December 15, 2021, Dvinianin completed diplomatic mission in Abkhazia and returned to Moscow.
• On March 17, 2022, the Russian “Ambassador” to Abkhazia, Alexey Dvinianin, was officially released from the post by the Russian President.

Work in Abkhazia

• On June 1, 2018, Dvinianin held his first introductory meeting with the Abkhazian media, during which he remembered his first visit to Sokhumi, when in his student years he accompanied a Finnish journalist as an interpreter.
• On July 10, 2018, Dvinianin met the members of the Public Chamber of Abkhazia for the first time.
• On April 23, 2020, in Abkhazia, the inauguration of the newly-elected de facto President Aslan Bzhania was held. Due to the new Coronavirus pandemic, the event was held without invited guests from other countries. Dvinianin attended the inauguration and delivered a speech. After the event, Bzhania and Dvinianin held a bilateral meeting and discussed implementation of joint measures to fight Coronavirus within the framework of inter-agency cooperation, including the measures to be taken at the de facto border.
• On June 12, 2020, Participants of the contest „Poems about Russia“ were awarded at the Russian „embassy“ in Abkhazia. The contest was dedicated to the „Russia Day“ and was organized by Federal Agency for CIS States, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Affairs Representation of Abkhazia. More than 40 contestants recorded poems about Russia on video. The winners were awarded by Dvinianin.
• On June 17, 2020, de facto president of Abkhazia Aslan Bzhania met with the Russian representatives in Abkhazia, including  Dvinianin, Head of the Border Division of the Federal Security Service of Russian Federation in Abkhazia Major General Aleksey Trubetski, Commander of the 7th Military Base of Russian Federation in Abkhazia Colonel Oleg Senkov, the „embassy“ employees – Aleksandr Oparin and Vladislav Nechiporenko, representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation in Abkhazia Stanislav Apsava. From Abkhazian side the meeting was attended by the Head of de facto Presidential Administration Alkhas Kvitsinia. Various aspects of bilateral cooperation were discussed  at the meeting.
• On July 30, 2020, de facto Vice President of Abkhazia, Badra Gunba, met with Dvinianin. The issues of bilateral cooperation were discussed at the meeting. The topic of special discussion was the issue of granting Abkhazian de facto citizenship to Russian citizens and protect their property rights in Abkhazia.
• On September 3, 2020, Dvinianin, met with the de facto president of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania. The issues of bilateral relations were discussed at the meeting.
• On October 5, 2020, the de facto president of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, met with Dvinianin. According to Bzhania's press service, issues of bilateral relations were discussed at the meeting. 
• On November 5, 2020, Dvinianin met with de facto Vice President of Abkhazia, Badra Gunba. The de facto Foreign Minister, Daur Kove, also attended the meeting. The agenda of the scheduled meeting of the Commission for the Protection of Property Rights of Citizens of the Russian Federation in Abkhazia was discussed at the meeting. 
• On January 21, 2021, Dvinianin met with the de facto President of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania. The “ambassador” introduced to Bzhania a new Head of the Border Division of the Russian Federal Security Service, A. Yu. Kudimov. Legal nuances of the presence of Russian state facilities on the territory of Abkhazia was discussed at the meeting as well.
• On February 5, 2021, session of the Commission on the Property Rights of Russian Citizens in Abkhazia was held with the participation of the de facto Vice President, Badri Gunba, and Dvinianin. The Commission considered a number of complaints and claims on several problematic and disputed houses, apartments and land plots in Sokhumi, Gagra, Gali and Ochamchire districts.
• On March 24, 2021, Dvinianin, met with the de facto president of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania. The issues of bilateral relations were discussed at the meeting.
• On April 20, 2021, Dvinianin met  with the de facto Prime Minister of Abkhazia, Aleksander Ankvab. The meeting discussed the socio-economic and humanitarian issues and joint steps against the spread of the coronavirus. The meeting also discussed plans for celebrating the 76th anniversary of the victory in the World War II on May 9.
• On December 2, 2021, the de facto Minister of Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia, Inal Ardzinba, met with Dvinianin. The meeting was also attended by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Abkhazia to the Russian Federation, Igor Akhba and the Minister Counselor of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Abkhazia, Maxim Litvinov. Dvinianin congratulated Inal Ardzinba on his appointment as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia and wished him success. At the meeting, the sides stressed the need to launch new Abkhaz-Russian projects in the fields of youth, culture, sports and education. During the meeting, topical issues of Abkhaz-Russian bilateral relations were discussed and hope was expressed for further fruitful work to strengthen and develop relations.

Interviews

• On February 8, 2019, Dvinianin in an interview with Russian News Agency “RIA Novosti“ talked about Russia-Abkhazia relations. During the interview Dvinianin emphasized several important issues.
• On April 20, 2019, Dvinianin in an interview with Russian News Agency “RIA Novosti“ talked about Russia-Abkhazia relations. During the interview Dvinianin emphasized several important issues.
• On September 17, 2019,  Dvinianin held press conference at the press-center of news agency „Sputnik Абхазия“. Meeting with the reporters was dedicated to the 11th anniversary of signing agreement on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance between Abkhazia and Russian Federation. During the interview Dvinianin emphasized  several important issues.
• On June 9, 2020, Dvinianin held a press conference at the press-center of news agency „Sputnik Абхазия“, where he spoke  about Russian-Abkhazian relations and other issues such as fight against the new Coronavirus, restrictions imposed due to the pandemic, celebration of the 75th anniversary of the victory in the great Patriotic War and of „Russia Day“.
• On August 26, 2020, Dvinianin in an interview with news agency „Sputnik Абхазия“ talked about Russia-Abkhazia relations and congratulated Abkhazia with recognition of Abkhazia's independence by Russia.
• On January 13, 2021, Dvinianin gave an interview to Abkhazian television. During the interview, the “ambassador” dwelt on problems related to the protection of rights and interests of Russian citizens in Abkhazia.