Organisational structure

The Governing Board shall be a collective body of the Bank of Abkhazia. The Governing Board shall set guidelines for the activities of the Bank of Abkhazia and exercise general guidance of the Bank of Abkhazia.

The Governing Board shall be comprised of the Chairman of the Bank of Abkhazia and six members of the Governing Board.
Members of the Governing Board shall work in the Bank of Abkhazia on a full-time basis.

The Bank of Abkhazia shall be headed by the Chairman appointed by the People’s Assembly of the Republic of Abkhazia for a term of five years by a majority vote of the total number of deputies.

A candidate for the post of the Chairman of the Bank of Abkhazia shall be proposed by the President of the Republic of Abkhazia no later than two months before the term of the incumbent Chairman of the Bank of Abkhazia expires.

Should the Chairman of the Bank of Abkhazia be dismissed before his term expires, the President of the Republic of Abkhazia shall propose a candidate for the post within a month of the day of the dismissal.

Should the candidate proposed for the appointment as Chairman of the Bank of Abkhazia be rejected, the President of the Republic of Abkhazia shall present the candidate for a second vote or propose a new candidate within a month. A single candidate may not be proposed more than twice.

The President of the Republic of Abkhazia shall appoint an Acting Chairman of the Bank of Abkhazia from among the members of the Governing Board for the term necessary for the People’s Assembly of the Republic of Abkhazia to appoint the Chairman of the Bank of Abkhazia.
The People’s Assembly of the Republic of Abkhazia shall be entitled to dismiss the Chairman of the Bank of Abkhazia on the proposal of the President of the Republic of Abkhazia.

Members of the Governing Board shall be appointed for the term of five years by the People’s Assembly of the Republic of Abkhazia on the proposal of the President of the Republic of Abkhazia.

Candidates for the posts of the members of the Governing Board shall be proposed to the President of the Republic of Abkhazia by the Chairman of the Bank of Abkhazia.

Members of the Governing Board shall be dismissed:

by the Chairman of the Bank of Abkhazia upon the expiry of the term indicated in this Article;
by the People’s Assembly of the Republic of Abkhazia at the proposal of the President of the Republic of Abkhazia before the expiry of the term indicated in this Article.

The Chairman of the Bank of Abkhazia shall be entitled to raise before the President of the Republic of Abkhazia the issue of dismissal of the Governing Board member before the expiry of the term.

Meetings of the Governing Board shall be chaired by the Chairman of the Bank of Abkhazia and in his absence, by his deputy from among the Board members.

The Governing Board shall adopt decisions by a majority vote of the Board members present at the meeting with a quorum of four people.
The minutes of the Board meeting shall be signed by the chairman of the meeting and one of the Board members. When the Governing Board adopts decisions relating to monetary policy, the opinions of those Board members, who are in the minority, shall be written down upon request in the minutes of the Board meeting.

The Governing Board shall meet at least once a month.

Board meetings shall be called by the Chairman of the Bank of Abkhazia or his deputy, or at the request of at least two Board members.
Board members shall be notified about a Board meeting in advance.

The Governing Board shall fulfill the following functions:

it shall elaborate and implement guidelines for a single state monetary policy in collaboration with the Government of the Republic of Abkhazia;
it shall approve the Annual Report of the Bank of Abkhazia and submit the document to the President and the People’s Assembly of the Republic of Abkhazia;
it shall examine the expense budget of the Bank of Abkhazia by the deadline of November 30 of the preceding year and submit it to the President of the Republic of Abkhazia. The People’s Assembly of the Republic of Abkhazia shall approve the Bank of Abkhazia expense budget at the proposal of the President of the Republic of Abkhazia;
it shall approve the structure of the Bank of Abkhazia;
it shall establish the form and amount of compensation to be paid to the Chairman of the Bank of Abkhazia, Deputy Chairmen of the Bank of Abkhazia and other Bank of Abkhazia employees in accordance with the current legislation of the Republic of Abkhazia;
it shall establish the form, procedure, and terms and conditions of refinancing of credit institutions and prolongation of the loans granted;
it shall adopt decisions:

on the creation and liquidation of the Bank of Abkhazia units and organisations;
on compulsory standards for credit institutions in accordance with the Article 60 of the existing Law;
on the amount of reserve requirements;
on changes in the interest rates of the Bank of Abkhazia;
on the setting of limits on open market operations;
on participation in international organisations;
on the participation of the Bank of Abkhazia in the capital of organisations that support the activities of the Bank of Abkhazia and its units, divisions and employees;
on the purchase and sale of real estate necessary for the functioning of the Bank of Abkhazia and its units, divisions and employees;
on the use of direct quantitative restrictions;
on the issue and withdrawal of banknotes and coins from circulation, on the total amount of cash issue by agreement with the Government of the Republic of Abkhazia;
on the procedure of creating reserves by credit institutions;

it shall submit to the People’s Assembly of the Republic of Abkhazia proposals for changing the authorised capital of the Bank of Abkhazia;
it shall approve the Governing Board’s rules of procedure;
it shall appoint the chief auditor of the Bank of Abkhazia;
it shall approve the structure of the Bank of Abkhazia, provisions on the divisions of the Bank of Abkhazia and the procedure for appointing heads of the Bank of Abkhazia divisions;
it shall establish the conditions of access of foreign capital to the Abkhazian banking system in compliance with the laws of the Republic of Abkhazia;
it shall fulfill other functions assigned by the existing Law to the jurisdiction of the Governing Board.

Members of the Governing Board cannot be deputies to the People’s Assembly of the Republic of Abkhazia or members of local self-government, or members of the Government of the Republic of Abkhazia.

A member of the Governing Board shall relinquish his powers as a deputy, resign as a member of local self-government or the Government of the Republic of Abkhazia within one month after his appointment as a member of the Governing Board, after which the newly appointed Board member begins performing his duties.

A member of the Governing Board cannot be a member of any political party or hold any position in a public, political or religious organisation.
A member of the Governing Board shall not be subject to the restrictions imposed by Article 87 of the existing Law.
The Chairman of the Bank of Abkhazia:

shall act on behalf of the Bank of Abkhazia and represent its interests without a power of attorney in relations with the bodies of state power and governing bodies, credit institutions, foreign state organisations, international organisations and other institutions and organisations;
shall chair the meetings of the Governing Board. Should the votes be equally divided, the Chairman of the Bank of Abkhazia shall have the deciding vote;
shall sign the normative acts of the Bank of Abkhazia, decisions of the Governing Board, minutes of the Governing Board’s meetings and agreements concluded by the Bank of Abkhazia;
shall appoint and dismiss his deputies at the proposal of the President of the Republic of Abkhazia and assign duties to them;
shall sign orders, decrees and give instructions that would be binding for all Bank of Abkhazia employees and its units and organisations;
shall bear full responsibility for the activity of the Bank of Abkhazia;
shall ensure the implementation of other functions of the Bank of Abkhazia in accordance with the existing Law.