The Abkhaz opposition went against Russia
The political situation in Abkhazia is deteriorating. The reason for the intensification of the Abkhaz opposition was the intergovernmental agreement on the free transfer of the Pitsunda state dacha property complex to Russia, signed on January 19, 2022 in Moscow.
As Apsnypress reports, representatives of the opposition political and public organizations “Abkhazian People’s Movement”, “Aruaa”, “Apsny”, “Aidgylara”, “Forum of National Unity of Abkhazia” proposed that the president be recalled from parliament and suspended the ratification procedure for the agreement on the state dacha “Pitsunda” "
“We love Russia, but we don’t want to join Russia. We didn’t fight with the Georgians for independence for so many years so that we could later join Russia,” this is roughly how the position of the dissatisfied is expressed.
The women's organization of Abkhazia points to criminal liability “for transferring part of the territory of Abkhazia to a foreign state.”
“The actions of the authorities related to the transfer of ownership of the objects of the Pitsunda state dacha do not relieve tension in society, do not reduce protest sentiments and are not able to resolve existing contradictions,” states Aidgylara.
“Today we again stand before the red line - should Abkhazia and the Abkhaz people exist or not?” – no more and no less! It is with this emphasized tragedy that the chairman of the public union of veterans “Aiaaira”, the hero of Abkhazia Vianor Ashba, presents the situation.
“Aiaaira” condemns the “signed behind the scenes” agreement and calls on the Parliament of Abkhazia not to ratify the document, since “Pitsunda is a touchstone”, and “if the parliament ratifies, then other large infrastructure facilities will be next in line, including seaports, an airport, the country's energy system..."
And indeed, the matter concerns not only the notorious Pitsunda dacha (Khrushchev’s former summer residence).
For decades, Moscow has been seeking from Sukhumi the right to purchase housing in Abkhazia for Russian citizens, the privatization of the Inguri hydroelectric power station complex and its transfer to a Russian energy company (Georgia under Saakashvili (!) granted ownership rights to the Russian Federation to the “Georgian part” of the hydroelectric power station), and now the transfer of the state dacha in Pitsunda, which is already in perpetual use by Russia under an agreement concluded back in 1995.
All this in exchange for large investments that will serve as a serious catalyst for the development of the economy of the small republic. Moscow, in fact, proposes to unite into a single economic space.
In a word, the topic of “Pitsunda” has become so relevant that the President of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, made a special statement that there could be no talk of any form of sale of Abkhaz land. But let us say that even if the Abkhazian authorities make concessions on this particular issue (it will soon become clear), the general course towards increasing openness of the economy and social sphere for the Russian side will be maintained.
We observe the seriousness of the intentions of the parties - both Abkhaz and Russian - to change the situation in the broad sense of the word, that is, to change economic life and the procedure for forming the republic’s budget. For the first time in 30 years, we see quite bold steps taken by the officialdom, despite the traditionally sharp rebuff from a considerable part of the Abkhaz public.
The young head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia, Inal Ardzinba, says that work is underway to harmonize Russian and Abkhaz legislation in order to ensure the investment attractiveness of Abkhazia.
Most likely, we are talking about legal guarantees for large investors, and large investments are made not only in the production sector, but also in real estate (which means in the land fund).
The more specific part of Ardzinba’s statement on the development of an agreement on dual citizenship leaves no doubt that Russian citizens will invest and that business plans have already been developed (Vladimir Putin has already ordered the signing of a new agreement with Abkhazia on resolving issues of dual citizenship). It is noteworthy that the minister mentioned not only Russian, but also interested Belarusian investors.
Recently, there has been more and more talk about the possible unification of Abkhazia into the Belarusian-Russian Union. The President of Abkhazia stated this. Foreign Minister Ardzinba is also working in this direction, meeting with competent persons.
It can be assumed that Sukhumi and Moscow have interested the business circles of Belarus in investing in Abkhazia, and through them they are trying to persuade the Belarusian authorities to recognize the republic. Of course, Moscow and official Minsk will also work directly on this issue. The unification of Abkhazia into the Union could serve as a serious motivation for the opposition Abkhazian public to make concessions and open up to the outside world.
The first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on the CIS, Konstantin Zatulin, in a conversation with Gazeta.Ru, lifted the curtain and spoke about one of the motives for uniting Abkhazia into a union state. The deputy admitted that in this case it would be easier for the parties to agree on the possibility of Russians purchasing land “in this country.”
“The opposition of Abkhazia is trying to create doubts: they say that if this is allowed today, then tomorrow the Abkhazians will cease to be the masters of the country. But it’s clear that no one will take the land away from Abkhazia,” explains the State Duma deputy.
At the same time, he did not say that although the land “will not be taken away,” new owners will become its owners.
In addition, the idea of Abkhazia joining the Union State could arm the pro-American Georgian opposition (read agents) and aggravate the internal political situation in Georgia, creating serious problems for the Georgian ruling elite loyal to Russia.
Meanwhile, the head of the Foreign Ministry of Abkhazia rightly notes that due to the lack of internal sources of financing, Abkhazia needs external investments, because a large share of its budget is formed by the Russian state, and not its own economy.
In mid-August, a delegation from the Russian Ministry of Economic Development headed by Minister Reshetnikov arrived in Abkhazia. The Russian minister visited the facilities that were built in the republic under the investment program to promote the socio-economic development of Abkhazia. These included a park and colonnade in Gagra, the Gagra-1 substation and wastewater treatment plants in the Gagra region, as well as a school in New Athos, the Abkhaz Drama Theater and Sukhumi Airport.
Only a simple listing of these objects gives an idea of the scale of many years of unilateral assistance from the main ally, which, according to various sources, has exceeded a billion dollars.
During the same visit, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of Russia Dmitry Volvach places quite logical emphasis on “serious, long-term, mutually beneficial contracts with large external investors and expresses confidence that “without serious private investment it is impossible to achieve what we dream of, for the republic’s economy to become self-sufficient."
It is difficult to say whether the Abkhaz public dreams of a “self-sufficient” economy, given the implication of a reduction in direct Russian financial assistance on the one hand, and on the other hand, the openness of the Abkhaz economy to Russian capital.
But Russia, delegating to Sukhumi a representative delegation of a relevant government agency headed by a federal minister, makes it clear: we will continue to help, there will be direct financial injections, but give the opportunity to come with large private capital - Russian capital.
The visit of the representative Moscow delegation was preceded by the signing in Moscow of an intergovernmental agreement on promoting the socio-economic development of Abkhazia for 2023-2025. So Volvach does not pull words out of thin air, pointing to the need to achieve greater openness and a “state of maturity” when the Abkhazian economy “allows itself to depend less on direct subsidies from the Russian Federation.”
Known for his directness, Zatulin points to the main motive and main political argument of the Abkhaz opposition - preserving the right of the Abkhaz to be the masters of Abkhazia. And in Abkhazia there were moments when, contrary to the position of both the local political leadership and the main ally of the republic - the Russian Federation, the public got its way on various controversial issues. Moreover, it came to the point of intense confrontation, even to the point of a political crisis.
There is one more side left unattended - Tbilisi. Georgia considers the economic unification of Abkhazia with Russia to be a continuation of the policy of annexation, which, by the way, is not so far from the position of the Abkhaz opposition. Tbilisi declares its right to all of the above objects on the territory of the breakaway Abkhazia and will clearly oppose their privatization in favor of the Russian Federation, although the most serious infrastructure systems of Georgia itself are owned by Russian companies.
These are approximately the contradictions on the path to achieving greater openness and economic integration of Abkhazia with the Russian Federation.
Soon the Abkhaz parliament must make a decision that can change the situation both around and inside Abkhazia and provoke a new phase of its development. Fortunately, the era of “hot heads” is passing in the post-Soviet space. Abkhazia is no exception.
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