Komsomol. In 1978, Bagapsh became responsible for information in the central committee of the Komsomol's Georgian branch and in 1980, first secretary of the Abkhazian Regional Committee. In 1982, Sergei Bagapsh became secretary general of the Communist Party in the Ochamchira District. After the fall of communism, Bagapsh became a businessman and the representative of the Abkhazian government in Moscow. From 1995 until 1997, Bagapsh was First Deputy Prime MInister of Abkhazia. On 9 November 1995, Bagapsh was seriously wounded in an attack. Prime Minister Sergei Bagapsh was appointed to the office of Prime Minister of Abkhazia on 29 April 1997. Georgian-Abkhazian tensions during Bagapsh's term in office reached a height in May 1998, following attacks by Georgian insurgents on peacekeeping forces from the Commonwealth of Independent States. Subsequently, a military conflict erupted between CIS and Georgian insurgent forces. In the subsequent war, sometimes referred to as the "Six-Day War", Abkhazian forces eliminated the insurgents, and 30,000 Georgian civilians fled Abkhazia. 2004 presidential election From 2000 until 2004, Sergei Bagapsh was the managing director of the Abkhazian state-owned power company Chernomorenergo. During the same period, he began to emerge as a likely opposition candidate in the lead-up to the 2004 presidential election. In early 2004, he became one of three leaders of the newly founded opposition party, United Abkhazia. On 20 July 2004, United Abkhazia joined forces with Amtsakhara, another important opposition party, and the two named him as their joint candidate for the coming October presidential elections, beating out other hopefuls, such as former foreign minister Sergey Shamba. In the elections, Bagapsh and his main opponent, Raul Khajimba, disputed the results. The Abkhaz Electoral Commission originally declared Khajimba to be the winner, with Bagapsh a distant second, but the Supreme Court later found that Bagapsh had actually won with 50.3% of the vote. The court then reversed its decision when Khajimba's supporters stormed the court building. At one point, Bagapsh and his supporters threatened to hold their own inauguration on 6 December 2004. However, in early December, Bagapsh and Khajimba reached an agreement to run together on a national unity ticket. New elections were held on 12 January 2005, with this ticket easily winning. Under the agreement, Bagapsh ran for president and Khajimba ran for vice-president. Following Bagapsh's election, Russia placed an imports ban on Abkhazia, leading to several tangerines destined for Russian markets rotting at the border. The