Council of Heads of State of the CIS
# Council of Heads of State of the CIS

The Council of Heads of State of the CIS (Russian: Совет глав государств СНГ), abbreviated in the Russian language as the SGG (СГГ), is a working body in the Commonwealth of Independent States. It serves as the supreme body of the CIS, and includes all the chief of state of CIS member states. Regular meetings of the council are held annually. It was created following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, directly replacing the State Council of the Soviet Union. As of 2020 there are 9 members of the CIS: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan is an associate state of the CIS.

## Activities

The activities of the Council of Heads of State are governed by the agreement on the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States of 8 December 1991 and the CIS Charter of 22 January 1993. At its meetings, the Council of Heads of State make decisions concerning amendments to the CIS Charter, the creation or abolition of bodies of the CIS, and optimizing the structure of the CIS, among others. Decisions of the Council of Heads of State are taken by consensus, with any member state having the ability to declare its disinterest in a particular issue.

## Current members

| Country | Leader | Term Start | Country | Leader | Term Start |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Armenia | Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan | 8 May 2018 | Moldova | President Maia Sandu | 24 December 2020 |
| Azerbaijan | President Ilham Aliyev | 31 October 2003 | Russia | President Vladimir Putin | 7 May 2012 |
| Belarus | President Alexander Lukashenko | 20 July 1994 | Tajikistan | President Emomali Rahmon | 20 November 1992 |
| Kazakhstan | President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev | 20 March 2019 | Turkmenistan | President Serdar Berdimuhamedow | 19 March 2022 |
| Kyrgyzstan | President Sadyr Japarov | 28 January 2021 | Uzbekistan | President Shavkat Mirziyoyev | 14 December 2016 |

## Chairmen

The chairmanship of the council rotates every year to the leader of a member state. The chairman's host country gets to host the annual summit in their country (most likely their capital city). The chairmanship exists in accordance with regulations approved by the council in Dushanbe in October 2008. The following is a table of chairmen of the council.

| Country | Chairman | Term |
| - | - | - |
| Russia | President Boris Yeltsin | 1 January 1994 – 31 December 1999 |
| Russia | President Vladimir Putin | 25 January 2000 – 29 January 2003 |
| Ukraine | President Leonid Kuchma | 29 January 2003 – 16 September 2004 |
| Russia | President Vladimir Putin | 16 September 2004 – 20 May 2006 |
| Kazakhstan | President Nursultan Nazarbayev | 20 May 2006 – 5 October 2007 |
| Kyrgyzstan | President Kurmanbek Bakiyev | 5 October 2007 – 31 December 2008 |
| Moldova | President Vladimir Voronin | 1 January – 11 September 2009 |
| Moldova | Acting President Mihai Ghimpu | 11 September – 31 December 2009 |
| Russia | President Dmitry Medvedev | 1 January – 31 December 2010 |
| Tajikistan | President Emomali Rahmon | 1 January – 31 December 2011 |
| Turkmenistan | President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow | 1 January – 31 December 2012 |
| Belarus | President Alexander Lukashenko | 1 January – 31 December 2013 |
| Ukraine | President Viktor Yanukovych | 1 January – 4 April 2014 |
| Belarus | President Alexander Lukashenko | 4 April – 31 December 2014 |
| Kazakhstan | President Nursultan Nazarbayev | 1 January – 31 December 2015 |
| Kyrgyzstan | President Almazbek Atambayev | 1 January – 31 December 2016 |
| Russia | President Vladimir Putin | 1 January – 31 December 2017 |
| Tajikistan | President Emomali Rahmon | 1 January – 31 December 2018 |
| Turkmenistan | President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow | 1 January – 31 December 2019 |
| Uzbekistan | President Shavkat Mirziyoyev | 1 January – 31 December 2020 |
| Belarus | President Alexander Lukashenko | 1 January – 31 December 2021 |
| Kazakhstan | President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev | 1 January – 31 December 2022 |
| Kyrgyzstan | Incumbent President Sadyr Japarov | 1 January – 31 December 2023 |

## Sessions

### Early years

The first meeting was held in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, where the Belovezha Accords were signed at Viskuli Government House. In the Kazakh capital of Alma Ata on 21 December, the Alma-Ata Protocol was signed, in which a provisional agreement on the membership and conduct of Councils of Heads of State and Government was concluded, as well as an agreement on Strategic Forces, Armed Forces and Border Troops. Many military documents were signed at a supplementary summit on 30 December in Minsk.

### Later summits

* 1994
   * Moscow (15 April)
   * Moscow (21 October)
* 1995
   * Alma-Ata (10 February)
   * Minsk (26 May)
* 1996
   * January 19 - Moscow (19 January)
   * Moscow (17 May)
* 1997
   * Moscow (28 March)
   * Chisinau (23 October)
* Moscow (29 April 1998)
* Moscow (2 April 1999)
* 2000
   * Moscow (25 January)
   * Moscow (21 June)
   * Minsk (1 December)
* 2001
   * Minsk (1 June)
   * Moscow (30 November)
* Chisinau (7 October 2002)
* Yalta (19 September 2003)
* Astana (16 September 2004)
* Kazan (26 August 2005)
* Minsk (28 November 2006)
* Dushanbe (5 October 2007)
* Bishkek (10 October 2008)
* Chisinau (9 October 2009)
* Moscow (10 October and 10 December 2010)
* 2011
   * Dushanbe (3 September)
   * Moscow (20 December)
* 2012
   * Moscow (15 May)
   * Ashgabat (5 December)
* Minsk (25 October 2013)
* Minsk (10 October 2014)
* Burabay National Park (16 October 2015)
* Chong-Aryk, Bishkek (16 September 2016)
* Sochi (11 October 2017)
* Dushanbe (1 June 2018)
* Ashgabat (2019)
* Tashkent (2020)
