Alan Eduardovich Gagloev (; ; born 6 February 1981), also transliterated as Gagloyev, is a South Ossetian politician and former intelligence officer, who is the fifth and current

president of South Ossetia The president of the Republic of South Ossetia (, ) is the ''de facto'' head of state of the International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, partially recognized South Ossetia, Republic of South Ossetia that is ''de jure'' part of Geor ...

since 2022. He also served as chairman of the

Nykhaz Nykhas () is a political party in South Ossetia founded in 2013 by supporters of Independent president Leonid Tibilov. Its members and supporters are referred to as Nykhasovites in local media. History Nykhas's name is an homage to the Adamon ...

party from 2020 to 2023.

Early life

Alan Gagloev was born on 6 February 1981, in Tskhinvali. He graduated from the

South Ossetian State University The South Ossetian State University, also known as Alexander Tibilov State University (in Ossetian: Хуссар Ирыстоны паддзахадон университет, in Georgian: სამხრეთ ოსეთის პედა� ...

in 2002 and was hired by the Ministry of Economic Development of South Ossetia as the chief specialist of the department for supporting small and medium-sized businesses. He fought in the

Russo-Georgian War The August 2008 Russo-Georgian War, also known as the Russian invasion of Georgia,Occasionally, the war is also referred to by other names, such as the Five-Day War and August War. was a war waged against Georgia by the Russian Federation and the ...

in 2008. During the war, Gagloev's family "suffered heavy losses".

2017 presidential campaign and joining Nykhaz

He ran unsuccessfully for

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, losing to

Anatoly Bibilov Anatoly Ilyich Bibilov (; , ; born 6 February 1970) is a South Ossetian military officer, was the fourth president of South Ossetia. He succeeded Leonid Tibilov as president on 21 April 2017 to 24 May 2022, following his election victory, but ...

. After his loss, he announced the creation of his own political party, the Alanian Union in September 2017. However, in May 2018, the South Ossetian Ministry of Justice refused to register the party. In January 2019, the Alanian Union joined '' New Ossetia'' who merged with the party

. Gagloev went on to be elected chairman of Nykhaz in February 2020.

2022 presidential campaign

Gagloev ran for president a second time in the 2022 election. On 10 April 2022, he won the first round with 36.9% of the vote, passing incumbent president

. Prior to the run-off, Gagloev received endorsements from the three candidates eliminated in the first round, Alexandr Pliyev, Garri Muldarov, and Dmitry Tasoyev, heading into the runoff against Bibilov. Bibilov had been endorsed by

United Russia The All-Russian Political Party United Russia (, ) is the Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Russia, political party of Russia. As the largest party in the Russian Federation, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the St ...

, the ruling party of Russia. Gagloev defeated Bibilov in the run-off with 56.08% of the vote on 8 May 2022. Bibilov admitted defeat in the elections, congratulated Gagloev and wished him "successful work for the good of the people".

Presidency

Following his election, he was sworn in as the new president on 24 May 2022. Domestically, Gagloev said the main issue of his presidency would be taking steps to improve the economy. Zita Besayeva was elected to replace him as leader of Nykhaz in February 2023.

Relations with Russia

Gagloev was seen by observers as being less supportive of holding a referendum to join Russia, saying that Russia was "still busy with other issues," in reference to the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. The Kremlin Press Secretary

Dmitry Peskov Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov (, ; born 17 October 1967) is a Russian diplomat serving as the Kremlin Press Secretary, spokesman for President of Russia, Russian president Vladimir Putin since 2012. On 30 May 2022, he suspended the referendum called by his predecessor Bibilov until consultations with Russia are complete. On 12 August 2022, Gagloev dismissed defense minister Vladimir Pukhaev due to an incident on 23 July 2022, which involved masked servicemen of the defense minister assaulting civilians in various locations throughout the region. Gagloev would assert his "supreme authority" over the armed forces after these events. This is after his predecessor had allowed parts of the South Ossetian military to be under the authority of the Russian army, as well as a large desertion by South Ossetians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. During the early parts of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, tens of thousands of Russians fled the country to South Ossetia to avoid being drafted. Gagloev's government cooperated with Russian authorities to create screening centers on the border to make sure the drafted or eligible for the draft don't get into the country. However, the policy was ended in October 2022 after only 120 draft dodgers where caught, of an estimated immigrant population of 78,000. On March 12, 2023, Gagloev personally awarded

Ramzan Kadyrov Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov (born 5 October 1976) is a Russian politician and current head of the Chechen Republic. He was formerly affiliated with the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Chechen independence movement, through his father who was the ...

's daughter Aishat Kadyrova, the South Ossetian Order of Friendship, stating that she had worked tirelessly to improve bilateral relations with

Chechnya Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...

and South Ossetia. In October 2023, Gagloev supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine, calling it a "

Special military operation "Special military operation" (also "special operation", and abbreviated as "SMO" or "SVO", or , ) is the official term used by the Russian government to describe the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is widely considered a euphemism intended to ...

" and South Ossetia's "joint goal" with Russia. In March 2024, Georgia's Interpress News claimed that in 2023 President Gagloev expressed hope that the "republic" would join Russia soon. On March 17, 2024, it was announced that several high ranking South Ossetian officials, namely speaker Alan Alborov and President Alan Gagloev, were entering talks with Russian officials for possible annexation into Russia by the end of the year. Vladimir Novikov, a specialist on the Caucasus at the Institute for Countries in the

Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional organization, regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an ar ...

stated that “At the present time, the inclusion of South Ossetia within Russia does not correspond to the interests of the Russian Federation since it could lead to the opening of a second front at a time of the special military operation” stating that South Ossetian annexation will only be considered if there was a drastic change in Georgian leadership in a pro-Western direction during the

2024 Georgian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Georgia (country), Georgia on 26 October 2024. The elections were held under the rules passed in 2017 through the constitutional amendments which shifted the electoral system towards a fully proportional r ...

Relations with Georgia

While still campaigning, Gagloev visited the

Akhalgori Municipality Akhalgori Municipality or Leningor District ( ka, ახალგორის მუნიციპალიტეტი, tr, , ) is a municipality in Georgia (country), Georgia or South Ossetia respectively. Georgia (country), Georgia considers Ak ...

, which has a substantial Georgian population, and urged support for allowing residents to travel to Georgia more freely. This had previously not been possible without medical documentation, and was further complicated by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. After assuming office, Gagloev received criticism from Russian news anchor Sergey Karnaukhov for dismissing the referendum to join Russia as well as supporting easier travel to Georgia, accusing him of being an American and Georgian asset. The governments of both Georgia and South Ossetia denied these claims. Beginning in August 2022, South Ossetia announced it would open checkpoints with Georgia from the 20th to the 30th of each month. Gagloev was subject to another scandal when he appointed Anatoly Pliyev as the Secretary of the Security Council when it was revealed that Pliyev had met with

Ilia II of Georgia Ilia II ( ka, ილია II, tr; born 4 December 1933), also transcribed as Ilya or Elijah, is the 82nd and current Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, the spiritual leader of the Georgian Orthodox Church. He is officially styled as "Catholi ...

, which had been denounced by prior South Ossetian governments as “the ideologist of Georgian fascism” who “blessed Georgians to kill Ossetians.” However, this also caused tension in Georgia, as Georgian businessman, Gocha Dzasokhashvili, who previously headed the Assembly of the Peoples of Georgia in Russia, brokered the meeting between Pliyev and Ilia.

Domestic policy

After spending his entire political career up to his election as an opposition figure against the repressive government of

, who used his office of president to crush political dissident and shut down opposition parties, including Gagloev's own Alanian Union, Gagloev is now using his power as president to target Bibilov and his supporters ahead of the

2024 elections This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. *2024 United Nations Security Council election *2024 national electoral calendar *2024 local electoral ...

. Oleg Gagloev, Alan Gagloev's minister of justice, stated that Bibilov's party,

United Ossetia United Ossetia (, ) is a political party in South Ossetia founded in 2012. In the 2014 parliamentary election it won 20 out of 34 seats, clearing the majority in the Parliament of South Ossetia, unseating the Unity Party from power. In the 2019 ...

, might be suspended due to failing to properly fill out campaign finance forms at the end of 2022 after multiple warnings. United Ossetia's chairman, and speaker of

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

Alan Tadtaev Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Kurdish surname *Alan (given name), an English given name **List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' *Al ...

, called the threats "stupid" as suspending United Ossetia would cause a governmental collapse as United Ossetia has 14 of the 34 seats in Parliament. Tadtaev would be pressured to resign as speaker shortly after and was replaced by Alan Alborov, a member of Gagloev's Nykhaz. As part of his presidential campaign, Alan Gagloev promised a pay increase to transportation and hospital workers. However, once in office, these pay raises never came. The government cited an overall downturn in the South Ossetian economy as it seeks fiscal independence, however, Gagloev's opposition claims that he's pocketing the money to use in the 2024 elections as a campaign chest. Gagloev named

Konstantin Dzhussoev Konstantin Khasanovich Dzhussoev (, ; born 23 November 1967) is a South Ossetian politician serving as the Prime Minister of South Ossetia since 2022. Biography Business career Dzhussoev graduated in 1989 from the Tskhinvali Faculty of the ...

, who holds a monopoly on South Ossetia's construction industry, as his

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

who has no experience with either politics or working in government. This has led to concerns about conflicts of interest with government funds for construction. Additionally, Dzhussoev's relationship to Albert Dzhussoev, one of the wealthiest men in the republic, has drawn criticism. Gagloev appointed

Valery Gazzaev Valery Georgiyevich Gazzaev (; ; born 7 August 1954) is a Russian politician, football manager and former footballer of Ossetian descent. As a Soviet footballer he played the position of a striker enjoying successes with his team FC Dynamo M ...

as his minister of Internal Affairs, an "experienced” and “professional” former head of the security department who has worked in law enforcement since 1997 and is one of the few members of the cabinet without family relationships to Gagloev. However, Gagloev named a relative, Oleg Gagloev, as his minister of justice who was formerly Anatoly Bibilov's chief of staff, but was fired in 2020. In 2021 Bibilov's government opened a corruption investigation into Oleg and Landa Abaeva, the head of accounting at the time, for five million missing

rouble The ruble or rouble (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is a currency unit. Currently, currencies named ''ruble'' in circulation include the Russian ruble (RUB, ₽) in Russia and the Belarusian ruble (BYN, Rbl) in Belarus. These currencies are s ...

s, however, after going in exile in Russia, in two months the Tskhinvali City Court ruled the investigation to be politically motivated and illegal. Alan Dzhioev has been appointed Gagloev's head of presidential administration who had previously been a judge of the constitutional court under Leonid Tibilov, however, he is Gagloev's son-in-law. There where also concerns due to his relationship with Arsen Gagloev, Alan's brother, who fled to Russia in 2011 and is a

Gazprom PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐsˈprom) is a Russian State-owned enterprise, majority state-owned multinational Energy industry, energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. The Gazprom name is a contract ...

executive. The aforementioned Anatoly Pliyev was named minister of the security council, and one of his first acts was dismissing the head of the State Security Committee, Major General Vladimir Khubaev, and his deputy Vasily Guliyev without giving a reason and named his close personal friend Alexander Tuaev as the new chairman. Gagloev has also dismissed all four district heads, meaning that South Ossetia's devolved local governments have not been functioning since he took power. Over the course of Gagloev's tenure, inter-party rivalries started to emerge as it emerged that supporters of Dzhussoev argued Gagloev's cabinet is largely stacked with yes-men and relatives. Gagloev sought to fix the long-running health crisis when he appointed health minister, Agunda Pliyeva, exasperated by entering a dispute with the hospital staff in

Tskhinvali Tskhinvali ( ka, ცხინვალი ) or Tskhinval (, ; , ) is the capital of the disputed ''de facto'' independent Republic of South Ossetia, internationally considered part of Shida Kartli, Georgia (except by Russia and four other UN m ...

due to low pay and a

brain-drain Human capital flight is the emigration or immigration of individuals who have received advanced training in their home country. The net benefits of human capital flight for the receiving country are sometimes referred to as a "brain gain" whereas ...

. The second leading issue was the poor state of the economy, which Gagloev appointed finance minister Kazbek Tsarikayev, the former finance minister of

North Ossetia North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

, to fix. However, Tsarikaev, due to his old age has been nicknamed "

Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

" by locals due to his alleged

dementia Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform activities of daily living, everyday activities. This typically invo ...

and due to his abrasive personality he turned most of the finance department against him. Gagloev's head of administration, Alan Dzhioev, implored Gagloev to keep Tsarikayev who went on to go on a state visit to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

to try and convince Russian officials that South Ossetia was operating under a surplus. Russia in turn sent auditors to Tskhinvali which found "serious irregularities" in South Ossetia's finances. At the same time there was a pay hold on public workers due to lack of funds. This perceived

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

has led to sporadic protests throughout Gagloev's term. South Ossetia had about 300 million

s in deficit at the end of 2023. Additionally, Gagloyev has been accused of

nepotism Nepotism is the act of granting an In-group favoritism, advantage, privilege, or position to Kinship, relatives in an occupation or field. These fields can include business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, religion or health care. In ...

, as he was hopeful that his brother, Arsen Gagloyev, a

executive, would help convince the Russian government for more support, which in turn exposed financial irregularties, additionally, Dzhioev is Arsen's son-in-law and Tsarikaev is another of Gagloyev's relatives. The public, meanwhile, view Gagloyev as a puppet of Dzhioev and Pliyeva, which hasn't been helped by Gagloyev keeping them in his cabinet despite the scandals that both of them are embroiled in. In 2023 South Ossetia would be embroiled in a crisis due to Gagloev and his customs minister, Alexander Chochiev, ending import/export duties with the Russian Republic, but with price of goods not decreasing. Additionally, Chochiev would strictly enforce preexisting import bans on some commodities, namely juice and soda and other sugary drinks, which led to discontent among the public. Gagloev's government would try to shift the blame for the issue on greedy businessmen collaborating with the Georgian Government to increase the cost of living in South Ossetia. On 23 October, 2023, Gagloev's government announced a serious shakeup in its composition, creating the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, with Oleg Gagloev being removed from his post as

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

to become its first Minister, being replaced by Alan Dzhioev. Dzambolat Tadtayev was named the

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

, Sarmat Kotaev was named the Minister of Economic Development, and Alan Margiev was named the new head of Presidential Administration. The government also created a committee for the "Development of Tourism."

Personal life

Gagloev is married and has two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gagloev, Alan 1981 births Living people Ossetian politicians People from Tskhinvali Presidents of South Ossetia Nykhaz politicians