Following his election, he was sworn in as the new president on 24 May 2022. Domestically, Gagloev said the main issue of his presidency would be taking steps to improve the economy.
Zita Besayeva was elected to replace him as leader of Nykhaz in February 2023.
Relations with Russia Gagloev was seen by observers as being less supportive of holding a referendum to join Russia, saying that Russia was "still busy with other issues," in reference to the
Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Kremlin Press Secretary
Dmitry Peskov further stated on 24 May that in regards to the referendum, "No steps are being taken or planned by the Russian side connected with this." On 12 August 2022, Gagloev dismissed defense minister Vladimir Pukhaev due to an incident on 23 July 2022, which involved masked servicemen of the defense minister assaulting civilians in various locations throughout the region. Gagloev would assert his "supreme authority" over the armed forces after these events. This is after his predecessor had allowed parts of the South Ossetian military to be under the authority of the Russian army, as well as a large desertion by South Ossetians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. During the early parts of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, tens of thousands of Russians fled the country to South Ossetia to avoid being drafted. Gagloev's government cooperated with Russian authorities to create screening centers on the border to make sure the drafted or eligible for the draft don't get into the country. However, the policy was ended in October 2022 after only 120 draft dodgers where caught, of an estimated immigrant population of 78,000. On March 12, 2023, Gagloev personally awarded
Ramzan Kadyrov's daughter Aishat Kadyrova, the South Ossetian Order of Friendship, stating that she had worked tirelessly to improve bilateral relations with
Chechnya and South Ossetia. In October 2023, Gagloev supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine, calling it a "
Special military operation" and South Ossetia's "joint goal" with Russia. In March 2024, Georgia's Interpress News claimed that in 2023 President Gagloev expressed hope that the "republic" would join Russia soon. On March 17, 2024, it was announced that several high ranking South Ossetian officials, namely speaker
Alan Alborov and President Alan Gagloev, were entering talks with Russian officials for possible annexation into Russia by the end of the year. Vladimir Novikov, a specialist on the Caucasus at the Institute for Countries in the
Commonwealth of Independent States stated that “At the present time, the inclusion of South Ossetia within Russia does not correspond to the interests of the Russian Federation since it could lead to the opening of a second front at a time of the special military operation” stating that South Ossetian annexation will only be considered if there was a drastic change in Georgian leadership in a pro-Western direction during the
2024 Georgian parliamentary election.
Relations with Georgia While still campaigning, Gagloev visited the
Akhalgori Municipality, which has a substantial Georgian population, and urged support for allowing residents to travel to Georgia more freely. This had previously not been possible without medical documentation, and was further complicated by the
COVID-19 pandemic. After assuming office, Gagloev received criticism from Russian news anchor Sergey Karnaukhov for dismissing the referendum to join Russia as well as supporting easier travel to Georgia, accusing him of being an American and Georgian asset. The governments of both Georgia and South Ossetia denied these claims. Beginning in August 2022, South Ossetia announced it would open checkpoints with Georgia from the 20th to the 30th of each month. Gagloev was subject to another scandal when he appointed
Anatoly Pliyev as the Secretary of the Security Council when it was revealed that Pliyev had met with
Ilia II of Georgia, which had been denounced by prior South Ossetian governments as “the ideologist of Georgian fascism” who “blessed Georgians to kill Ossetians.” However, this also caused tension in Georgia, as Georgian businessman,
Gocha Dzasokhashvili, who previously headed the
Assembly of the Peoples of Georgia in Russia, brokered the meeting between Pliyev and Ilia.
Domestic policy After spending his entire political career up to his election as an opposition figure against the repressive government of
Anatoly Bibilov, who used his office of president to crush political dissident and shut down opposition parties, including Gagloev's own Alanian Union, Gagloev was accused of using his power as president to target Bibilov and his supporters ahead of the
2024 elections. Oleg Gagloev, Alan Gagloev's minister of justice, stated that Bibilov's party,
United Ossetia, might be suspended due to failing to properly fill out campaign finance forms at the end of 2022 after multiple warnings. United Ossetia's chairman, and speaker of
Parliament Alan Tadtaev, called the threats "stupid" as suspending United Ossetia would cause a governmental collapse as United Ossetia has 14 of the 34 seats in Parliament. Tadtaev would be pressured to resign as speaker shortly after and was replaced by
Alan Alborov, a member of Gagloev's Nykhaz. As part of his presidential campaign, Alan Gagloev promised a pay increase to transportation and hospital workers. However, once in office, these pay raises never came. The government cited an overall downturn in the South Ossetian economy as it seeks fiscal independence, however, Gagloev's opposition claims that he's pocketing the money to use in the 2024 elections as a campaign chest. Gagloev named
Konstantin Dzhussoev, who holds a monopoly on South Ossetia's construction industry, as his
Prime Minister who has no experience with either politics or working in government. This has led to concerns about conflicts of interest with government funds for construction. Additionally, Dzhussoev's relationship to Albert Dzhussoev, one of the wealthiest men in the republic, has drawn criticism. Gagloev sought to fix the long-running health crisis when he appointed health minister,
Agunda Pliyeva, exasperated by entering a dispute with the hospital staff in
Tskhinvali due to low pay and a
brain-drain. The second leading issue was the poor state of the economy, which Gagloev appointed finance minister
Kazbek Tsarikayev, the former finance minister of
North Ossetia, to fix. However, Tsarikaev, due to his old age has been nicknamed "
Biden" by locals due to his alleged
dementia and due to his abrasive personality he turned most of the finance department against him. Gagloev's head of administration,
Alan Dzhioev, implored Gagloev to keep Tsarikayev who went on to go on a state visit to
Moscow to try and convince Russian officials that South Ossetia was operating under a surplus. Russia in turn sent auditors to Tskhinvali which found "serious irregularities" in South Ossetia's finances. At the same time there was a pay hold on public workers due to lack of funds. This perceived
corruption has led to sporadic protests throughout Gagloev's term. South Ossetia had about 300 million
roubles in deficit at the end of 2023. Additionally, Chochiev would strictly enforce preexisting import bans on some commodities, namely juice and soda and other sugary drinks, which led to discontent among the public.
Dzambolat Tadtayev was named the
Minister of Finance,
Sarmat Kotaev was named the
Minister of Economic Development, and
Alan Margiev was named the new head of Presidential Administration. The government also created a committee for the "Development of Tourism." == Personal life ==