Marat Kambolov

☆ Save On Wikipedia ↗
Marat Kambolov
Марат Камболов
Марат Хъамболты
Kambolov in 2021
Acting President of South Ossetia
Incumbent
Assumed office
23 June 2026
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byAlan Gagloev
Prime Minister of South Ossetia
Incumbent
Assumed office
16 June 2026
PresidentAlan Gagloev
Himself (acting)
Preceded byDzambolat Tadtaev
Konstantin Dzhioev (acting)
Personal details
Born1965 (age 60–61)
Khaznidon, North Ossetian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Gorsky Agricultural Institute
Moscow State Social University
Russian Academy of Public Administration

Marat Arkadyevich Kambolov (Russian: Марат Аркадьевич Камболов; Iron Ossetic: Марат Аркадийы фырт Хъамболты) is a Russian civil servant and politician of Ossetian descent currently serving as the Prime Minister of South Ossetia. Since 23 June 2026, he has also been serving as acting President of South Ossetia.[1]

Biography

Kambolov was born in North Ossetia in 1965, in the village of Khaznidon, Irafsky District.[2][3][4] He graduated from the Gorsky Agricultural Institute in Vladikavkaz in 1988 and earned additional degrees from the Moscow State Social University and the Russian Academy of Public Administration.[3] He served as Russian Deputy Minister of Education from 2010 to 2014, before holding senior positions at the Kurchatov Institute, where he served as director from 2021 to 2025.[3][2] He also worked for the Federal Antimonopoly Service.[5]

Rapid political rise

On 25 May 2026, Russia and South Ossetia signed a treaty on deeper integration, which included a provision that any Russian citizen can hold elected office in South Ossetia, and vice versa.[2] The following day, an article was published by the newspaper Kommersant claiming that Kambolov was the Kremlin's pick for the next President of South Ossetia.[2] The incumbent South Ossetian President, Alan Gagloyev, has been persistently shadowed by corruption allegations since taking office, with approximately 3 billion roubles (about US$39 million) of Russian financial aid to South Ossetia alleged to have been embezzled by Gagloev and his original prime minister, Konstantin Dzhussoev, resulting in Dzhussoev's dismissal on 21 January.[6]

Gagloyev then appointed Kambolov as his adviser on 'the implementation of the integration deal between South Ossetia and Russia' on 27 May.[3][2][7] On 8 June 2026, the incumbent South Ossetian Prime Minister, Dzambolyt Tadtayev, dismissed his cabinet and resigned at Gagloyev's request, who stated his intention to replace him with Kambolov.[7] Tadtayev's deputy, Konstantin Dzhioev, served as acting prime minister until the Parliament of South Ossetia voted to appoint Kambolov as prime minister on 16 June.[7][8]

Kambolov's first act as prime minister was to give a speech to Parliament stating that he would base his new cabinet picks around demographics, arguing that South Ossetia's rapid population decline was the republic's single greatest issue.[8] Legal scholars pointed out that although the treaty had been ratified by both sides, South Ossetia had not amended its constitution, and it is still a requirement for the prime minister to have lived in the country for ten years – a condition Kambolov has not met.[8] Nevertheless, Kambolov has made anti-corruption a central focus of his administration, promising an audit of Russian financial assistance.[5]

To complete Kambolov's rise, Gagloyev would resign as President on 23 June 2026, to become aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Under South Ossetia's constitution, the Prime Minister, Kambolov, will serve as acting President until a new election can be held.[9]

References