Arshba was born in Sukhumi in the Abkhaz ASSR. He is a former entrepreneur, top manager. Dollar multimillionaire. Retired FSB Colonel, a veteran of the security services.[3]
According to a Gordonua.com article, Otari Arshba allegedly recruited Oleg Boyko (Russian: Олег Викторович Бойко) into the KGB and, while Boyko was at the computer center of Moscow State University from 1982 to 1986, Boyko excelled as an KGB agent and was subsequently sent on business trips to Great Britain and the United States.[4]
In 1989–1991, Arshba stood at the origins of Abkhazian statehood in modern times, serving as an advisor and organizer of political activities in the Soviet parliament of the USSR people's deputy, the future fighter for the independence of the republic, the first president of Abkhazia Vladislav Ardzinba. In 1992–1993, during the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict, Arshba was one of the main financial sponsors of strengthening the defense capability of Abkhazia.[5]
Until April 1994, Arshba was a state security officer.[6]
In 1998, Arshba began working at Evraz becoming the director of public relations, and then he successively held the positions of vice president and senior vice president. Until March 2004, he was the chairman of the board of directors of Evraz.[4]
Arshba is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the West Siberian Metallurgical Plant (Russian: Западно-Сибирский металлургический комбинат) which merged into Evraz in July 2011 to become OJSC EVRAZ - Consolidated West Siberian Metallurgical Plant (ZSMK) (Russian: ЗСМК).[7][8]
On 3 December 2004, Arshba, Leonid Lebedev, and others founded VAO R. Prim Company (Russian: "Фирмы ВАО Р. Прим") which operated gas stations.[6][9]
Since 7 December 2003, Arshba has been a member of United Russia from the Kemerovo region in the Duma's lower house and, as of July 2023, is the head of the ethics commission in the Duma's lower house.[10][11][12][13]
In March 2023, Ukrainian court sentenced Arshba to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property under the article on encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine.[21][22]
Personal
He owns an apartment in Georgia and his wife has real estate in Georgia, too.[7][23]
^Иванов, Виталий (Ivanov, Vitaly); Воронина, Анфиса (Voronina, Anfisa); Онегина, Анастасия (Onegina, Anastasia) (9 October 2003). "Сырьевая Дума" [Raw Duma]. Vedomosti (in Russian). Archived from the original on 9 October 2003. Retrieved 17 July 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Alt URL