Between 1983 and 1988, Pipia held various positions in the Tkvarcheli town council and the local branch of the Communist Party. From 1988 until 1990, he attended the higher party school in Baku. In November 1991, he founded the Tkvarcheli branch of the Sukhumi Commercial Bank. During the 1992–1993 with Georgia, he led the rear of the eastern front. In October 1994, he founded the Menatep-Sukhum bank. Between 1997 and 2000, Pipia gained a post-graduate degree from the Russian Presidential Academy of Public Administration.