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Abkhazia's President Ankvab hospitalized after blood pressure hike

Ankvab, 61, is president of Abkhazia since May of 2011, when his predecessor Sergei Bagapsh died of a heart failure at the age of 62

Alexander Ankvab ITAR-TASS/Alexei Nikolsky

Alexander Ankvab

© ITAR-TASS/Alexei Nikolsky

SUKHUMI, May 07. /ITAR-TASS/. President of Abkhazia Alexander Ankvab was hospitalized on Tuesday after suffering a blood pressure hike, but, according to doctors, he is currently in a stable condition, presidential spokesperson Kristian Bzhaniya said on Wednesday.

Bzhaniya said the Abkhaz leader felt unwell during his meeting on May 6 with public activists and members of the Amtsakhara political party. After the ambulance arrived, doctors initially diagnosed him with high blood pressure.

“As the first necessary medical assistance was rendered, Ankvab was recommended an in-ward hospital examination,” Bzhaniya said. “At 9:15 p.m. Moscow time [17:15 GMT] he arrived on his own at the central hospital in Sukhumi and was put in a cardiovascular care unit.”

Following a full medical examination at the hospital, doctors said that the Abkhaz leader suffered a “hypertensive crisis,” the spokesman said adding that Ankvab’s blood pressure and other hemodynamic parameters were currently within the norms.

Ankvab, 61, is president of Abkhazia since May of 2011, when his predecessor Sergei Bagapsh died of a heart failure at the age of 62.

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