De facto Abkhaz president claims goods worth billions of rubles ‘illegally enter Georgia’ from the region
Aslan Bzhania became the de facto president of Abkhazia earlier this year following the demonstrations in the region. Photo: vestikavkaza.ru.
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The newly elected de facto President of Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region Aslan Bzhania claims that products worth billions of rubles illegally enter Tbilisi-controlled territory from the region.
He says that there is a need “to have the border under full control.”
Bzhania says that Abkhazia receives 11-12 tonnes of hazelnuts annually and only 10 per cent of the harvest are imported to Russia.
He said that the remaining portion of hazelnuts appear on Tbilisi-administered territory and the money ‘goes to the pockets of contrabandistas.’
Bzhania was sworn in as the fifth de-facto leader of Abkhazia for a five-year term on April 23,2020.
Before and after the so-called elections, Bzhania said that he supports a new format of negotiations with Tbilisi. At the same time, he says that Georgia should recognise the ‘ independence of Abkhazia.’
- Opposition ‘presidential candidate’ in occupied Abkhazia supports ‘direct dialogue between Tbilisi and Sokhumi’
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Since the Russia-Georgia 2008 war only Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru and Syria have reconciled the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali as independent republics, the rest of the international community says the regions are occupied by Russia.
The de facto president of Georgia’s Russian-occupied region of Abkhazia, Raul Khajimba, resigned after a meeting with opposition leader Aslan Bzhania late yesterday which was also attended by Deputy Secretary of Russian Security Council Rashid Nurgaliev.Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aide Vladislav Surkov also went to Abkhazia following the statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry that political unrest in Abkhazia was “an internal issue of the republic.”
President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili announced today that she is paying close attention to the developments in the Russian-occupied region of Abkhazia. State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality Ketevan Tsikhelashvili spoke of the situation in Sokhumi as well.
Opposition ‘presidential candidate’ in Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region Aslan Bzhania says that “there must be a dialogue between Tbilisi and Sokhumi.” Bzhania, who will run in the snap ‘presidential elections’ in the region on March 22, told IPN news agency that the format of the dialogue ‘is less important, or whether there will be mediators or not, the most important is that the dialogue brings positive outcomes.’
Aslan Bzhania has been sworn in as the fifth de-facto leader of Russian-occupied Abkhazia for a five-year term on April 23.