▶ Office of the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Central Asia

Mr. Kaha Imnadze (ASG, Georgia), SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE UN SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR CENTRAL ASIA, HEAD OF UNRCCA

On 14 June 2023, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced the appointment of Kaha Imnadze of Georgia as his Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA).

Mr. Imnadze succeeds Natalia Gherman of the Republic of Moldova, who was appointed as Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate and to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her dedication and leadership of UNRCCA.

Mr. Imnadze brings to the position over 30 years of experience in diplomacy, negotiation, and mediation; foreign, defense and security policy; conflict resolution and political risk assessment. Most recently from 2022 to 2023, Mr. Imnadze served as Ambassador of Georgia to Canada and Permanent Representative to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Prior to this, he was Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Georgia to the United Nations from 2013 to 2022. Earlier in his career, Mr. Imnadze served as a Board Member of the Georgian Political Science Association (2012-2013), Program Director of the Georgian Institute for Russian Studies (2009-2013), Assistant to the President and Spokesman as well as Director of the Georgian State Information Service (2000-2003), Deputy Secretary of the National Security Council of Georgia (1998-2000), Deputy Chief of the Mission of Georgia to NATO and Embassy to the BENELUX countries (1994-1998).

Mr. Imnadze holds a Master’s Degree in English Language and Literature from the Tbilisi State University and speaks Georgian (native), English, Russian, and French.

Mr. Kaha Imnadze is married and has a daughter.

Mr. Philipp Saprykin (P-5, Russia), DEPUTY HEAD OF UNRCCA

On 14 November 2016, Mr. Philipp Saprykin was appointed as a Senior Political Affairs Officer/Deputy Head of the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA) in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.

He started his diplomatic career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia in 1993 and was several times posted abroad, namely in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan (1995-1996), Geneva, Switzerland (1996-2000). In between, he occupied several positions in the Legal Department and Department for International Organizations in the Russian Foreign Ministry.

From 2002 till 2009 he worked in Stockholm, Sweden, at the Council of the Baltic Sea States, as a Deputy Director-General, dealing with issues of Economic, Energy and Transport cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region. From 2010 till 2011 he served as a Deputy Director for the International Cooperation in the Russian Ministry of Justice. In 2011-2013, 2015-2016, he was assigned as a Head of Unit in the Department for New Threats and Challenges of the Russian Foreign Ministry. In 2013-2015, he occupied a position in the United Nation Office on Drugs and Crime in Almaty, Kazakhstan, as a Head of the Programme Office and a Senior Coordinator of the CARICC Project.

He is a graduate of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations – MGIMO (University) and holds a Ph.D. in International Law (Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Mr. Saprykin speaks English and French.

Born in 1967 and has two children.

Mr. Armands Pupols (P-4, Latvia), HUMAN RIGHTS AND POLITICAL AFFAIRS OFFICER

Mr. Armands Pupols, throughout his professional career, worked both in the UN and the OSCE covering a broad range of political, sociaeconomic and human rights issues. He has academic degrees in international relations and international economy abstained in Latvia, Hungary and Australia.

Mr. Pupols started his international career in a number of the OSCE field missions in Bosnia and Hercegovina in the 90's. In 2001, he was posted to the OSCE Centre in Almaty. After few years in Kazakhstan, he joined the Conflict Prevention Centre in the OSCE Secretariat in Vienna.

In 2008, he joined UNRCCA with the main portfolio to promote interaction and cooperation between Central Asia and Afghanistan, After spending few years with UNAMID in Sudan, he returned to UNRCCA in 2019 to deal with issues related to human rights as well as preventing violent extremism and countering terrrorism.    

Mr. Andrey Khanzhin (P-3, Russia), POLITICAL AFFAIRS OFFICER 

Andrey Khanzhin has been working as a Political Affairs Officer with the UNRCCA in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, since 2021. From September 2010 to November 2020 he served as a senior advisor at the office of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities.

Prior to joining the OSCE he worked for a number of humanitarian and peacebuilding international organizations, including Danish Refugee Council and International Alert in Central Asia, South Caucasus and Ukraine.

His area of expertise encompasses peace and security, preventive diplomacy, GEWE, diversity management, refugee protection and  governance in the field of inter-ethnic relations. 

Mr. Andriy Larin (P-3, Ukraine), POLITICAL AFFAIRS OFFICER

Mr. Andriy Larin has been working as a Political Affairs Officer at the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA) in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, since 2017.

He previously participated in UN peacekeeping operations in the former Yugoslavia from 1992 to 1993 and 1994 to 1995 as part of the Ukrainian Military Contingent.

From 2004 to 2009, Mr. Larin worked for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Afghanistan, where he was involved in the Afghanistan New Beginning Program Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Project (DDR). From 2009 to 2017, he served as a Political Affairs Officer with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and as the UNAMA Head of the Field Office.

Mr. Larin holds a Bachelor's Degree from the Kyiv Higher Combined Arms Command School and a Master's degree in Political Science from the Military Political University. He was born in 1964, Ukrainian, married, and has one daughter.