Viktor Shargaev

Deputy Head of the Directorate for Interregional Relations and Cultural Contacts with Foreign Countries of the Russian Presidential Administration

Professional Career

• In March 2021, Shargaev was appointed as the deputy to Igor Maslov, the Head of the Directorate for Interregional and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries of the Russian Presidential Administration.
• He Holds the rank of Lieutenant General.

Activities in the Tskhinvali Region

• On April 21, 2014, Viktor Shargaev was appointed as the Head of the State Security Committee (KGB) of the Tskhinvali region. He replaced Boris Atoev in this position. Shargaev held this position until July 2017.
• Shargaev's name is associated with the May 2017 reveal of a fraudulent scheme by Yugosetnefteproduct („a state-owned“ oil importer). Under the scheme, the company bought high-quality gasoline from the Russian Rosneft, exchanged it for diluted, low-quality gasoline in North Ossetia, which was eventually sold in the Tskhinvali region.
• Reportedly, one of the issues which Shargaev oversaw in 2014-2017 was a Kremlin “project” named - Bibilov. Under the project Shargaev was to help Anatoly Bibilov to win the parliamentary (2014) and then the presidential elections (2017).
• In July 2017, the “President” Anatoly Bibilov announced Shargaev’s resignation. The “President” thanked Shargaev for his service and awarded him the Order of Merit for “his personal contribution to the state security.”
• Several versions were circulated about Shargaev's resignation. According to one, Bibilov himself ousted Shargaev since the latter wanted to gain influence in the region and Bibilov did not want to be accountable to him. The second version relates to a smuggling cigarette scheme in which Shargaev and Bibilov disagreed. The scheme involved de facto government officials with the Prosecutor General Uruzmag Jagaev among them. Reportedly, Bibilov was also aware of it. According to the scheme, large quantities of cigarettes imported from third world countries were transported to Russia via the Tskhinvali region. An article on the scheme was published on March 18, 2021, five days before Shargaev's appointment to the Putin administration.

Relations with Abkhazia

• On March 21, 2023, a working meeting was held in Moscow between de facto Secretary of the Security Council, Sergey Shamba, and Shargaev. The meeting discussed the issues of socio-economic cooperation between Russia and Abkhazia.

Relations with the Tskhinvali Region

• On November 24, 2021, a Russian delegation paid a working visit to the Tskhinvali region. The delegation comprised: Rashid Nurgaliyev, the Deputy Secretary of the Security Council, Igor Maslov, the Head of the Directorate for Interdepartmental and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries of the Presidential Administration, and Shargaev. On the first day of the visit, a working meeting was held with the de facto President of the Tskhinvali region, Anatoly Bibilov, and members of the de facto government. The next day, Bibilov discussed in detail the issues of the socio-economic cooperation with the Russian delegation.