Abkhazia gets $15m boost from UN

The United Nations (UN) will give $15 million USD to Abkhazia – one of Georgia’s breakaway regions - to implement social projects in the current year.

UN Resident Coordinator in Georgia Niels Scott made the announcement during his visit to the Abkhazian capital city, Sokhumi, where he met with Abkhazia's de-facto President Alexander Ankvab.

Scott said: "This amount may be increased if the government directly addresses the UN donor countries and convinces them of the necessity to invest their money in Abkhazia."

At the meeting, Ankvab spoke about proposed social projects, Abkhazian news agency Apsni Press reported.

"I sincerely wish the United Nations’ project will show tangible results here," Ankvab added.

Georgia’s State Minister for Reconciliation and Civil Equality Paata Zakareishvili welcomed the UN’s decision to allocate money to Abkhazia.

Zakareishvili said, in collaboration with the Georgian Government, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) implemented this kind of project in Abkhazia every year, as the region was an "indivisible part of Georgia”.

"The UN confirms Georgia’s territorial unity and it stresses this position in each of its resolutions,” the State Minister said.

"We want to offer Abkhazian people European and Western values. This is why we believe the UN involvement does well in this direction.”