just returned from Moscow where he had signed a contract on supplying electricity to Krasnodar krai from Abkhazia, and he was widely seen at the time as the main candidate for succeeding Ardzinba as president. The President's wife, Svetlana Ardzinba, was Jergenia's first cousin, and Jergenia was thought to have been building up support in Moscow. Some think that Ardzinba found that Jergenia was too openly ambitious about the presidency, that he put Russian interests above Abkhazian interest, or that he dropped support for Jergenia due to his unpopularity with the Abkhazian population. Jergenia was replaced by former Prime Minister Gennady Gagulia. This led to a shift in Abkhazian foreign policy, as Jergenia, while still steadfast on the question of independence, was much more open to negotiations than his successor. Jergenia had been a close friend and collaborator of Ardzinba since the 1970s, but the two fell out when Ardzinba dismissed Jergenia as Prime Minister. They reconciled after Ardzinba retired as President in 2005. 2004 presidential elections Already during the 2002 Parliamentary elections, while still Prime Minister, Jergenia had supported the parliamentary candidates of public movement Amtsakhara. In 2003, he spoke at Amtsakhara's congress, where he argued in favour of reducing Presidential powers and moving towards a mixed presidential/parliamentary model of government. Jergenia then became Amtsakhara's favoured candidate for the October 2004 presidential elections before it entered into an alliance with United Abkhazia and chose to back Sergei Bagapsh instead. A minority faction of Amtsakhara continued its support for Jergenia, and he did enter into the elections, with Ruslan Kishmaria as his Vice-Presidential candidate, head of the Gali district assembly. The pair came in only fourth place in the first round, receiving 2277 votes, and did not contest the second. References 1941 births 2020 deaths Lawyers from Saint Petersburg Prime Ministers of Abkhazia Amtsakhara politicians Candidates in the 2004 Abkhazian presidential election