Vazha Zarandia

Ivan (Vazha) Zarandia (, ) (1 November 1932– disappeared 8 December 2025) was Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Abkhazia from 5 May 1992 to 12 December 1993.

Early life Zarandia was born on 1 November 1932, in the village of Uakum, where he attended school and worked on a state farm from 1951 to 1954. He then pursued higher education at the History and Philosophy Faculty of the Sukhumi State Pedagogical Institute from 1955 to 1959. From September 1960 to March 1961, he taught history at a school in Uakum.

Political career in the Soviet Union

From March 1961 until January 1965, Zarandia was secretary of the Komsomol Committee of the Georgian Institute for Subtropical Agriculture in Sukhumi, and then until November 1967, chairman of its United Trade Union Committee. From November 1967 until August 1971, he was instructor with the Abkhazian Obkom of the Communist Party, and then until January 1974, department head. Between January and November 1974, Zarandia was both head of the Agriculture Department of the Abkhazian gorkom of the Communist Party, and chairman of the Sukhumi District's executive committee. From November 1974 until December 1991, he was the head of the State Procurement Inspectorate for the Abkhazian ASSR of the Union Ministry for Procurement.

Post-Soviet political career On 5 May 1992, Zarandia was elected Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Abkhazia, defeating Interior Minister Givi Lominadze. He held the position until 12 December 1993,