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South Ossetia to swear in Leonid Tibilov as president

Leonid Tibilov was nominated for presidency by an initiative group of citizens

TSKHINVAL, April 19 (Itar-Tass) — A former head of the KGB foreign intelligence branch, Leonid Tibilov, will be sworn in as South Ossetia’s president on Thursday.

Delegations from Russia, Abkhazia, the Dniester region, Nagorny Karabakh, Nicaragua that recognized South Ossetia’s independence, will arrive to congratulate Tibilov upon inauguration. The Russian delegation will be led by State Duma speaker Sergei Naryshkin.

Leonid Tibilov was nominated for presidency by an initiative group of citizens. In the first round of the repeat elections on March 25 he received over 42 percent of votes. In the runoff on April 8 he got over 53 percent to win the presidential race.

In his election program Tibilov emphasized that South Ossetia would boost relations with Russia and seek unification with North Ossetia. He noted that in the shortest possible timeframe he plans to complete the republic’s restoration and to start developing its economy and social sphere.

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