This week, a scandal broke out in Abkhazia that could seriously ruin relations between Sukhum and Moscow and even cause instability in the republic. Several opposition channels on Telegram published an alleged copy of the minutes of the meeting between the deputy head of the Russian presidential administration, Dmitry Kozak, and the president of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania. The Russian position there is very tough and disappointing for the other side.
There is no official confirmation or denial of the authenticity of the document. The black-and-white scanned sheets bear the date of the meeting on August 19, 2024, an identification number, allegedly Kozak’s signature and the seal of the administration of the President of the Russian Federation. Of course, it is not difficult to forge such a copy. But the “protocol” caused a lot of noise.
Opposition parties and public figures held a meeting on August 31, where they criticized the actions of the Abkhaz leadership. They also agreed to hold a meeting, the date of which will be set for September 3.
Isn’t money the most important thing?
The document contains four points. The first one speaks of the suspension of funding for the Abkhaz development programme for the period 2022-2025 from 1 September until Sukhum fulfils its obligations. It is necessary to ratify bilateral relations on the mutual recognition of court and arbitration decisions in economic matters, achieve the entry into force of an agreement on Russian investments in Abkhazia and remove restrictions on Russian business in the commercial real estate (apartments) market.
The second paragraph speaks of the decision to supply electricity to Abkhazia during the autumn-winter period of this year solely for commercial purposes. According to the third point, Bzhania promised that Russia would be provided with information about Abkhaz MPs and opposition leaders who have Russian citizenship and act to the detriment of Russia’s interests and the development of Russian-Abkhaz relations, in order to be able to consider the issue of depriving politicians of citizenship.
The fourth point seems to be the icing on the cake. It is said that the State Duma and the Federation Council will be ordered to minimize contacts with Abkhaz parliament deputies because they have adopted an unconstructive position in fulfilling their obligations to the Russian Federation.
It should be noted that the first paragraph identifies real problems that have recently sparked heated debate. The development of the tourism business in Abkhazia requires investments and no one, except Russian companies, is going to invest in this. But there are no guarantees that the interests of investors will be protected.
The Abkhazian Constitution provides for restrictions on the purchase of real estate by non-citizens of the country, and the law on apartments (residential buildings registered as non-residential) is intended to circumvent these restrictions. Mutual recognition of court decisions is necessary so that disputes over Abkhaz property can be resolved in Russian arbitration, as Abkhaz judges are considered biased.
All of Bzhania’s attempts to pass these laws are met with hostility by the opposition. Many deputies are against it. In other words, the “protocol” touches on a really sensitive issue: an issue whose dispute touches on essential questions concerning the existence of the Abkhaz people.
Abkhaz society is against foreigners buying real estate. Opponents of the apartment project point out that Russian companies have enough money to buy everything in the small republic, and at some point the Abkhazians will see that this is foreign land around them.
There are also serious fears in Abkhazia that the people will disintegrate if we allow an influx of Russian residents who want to move to this country. And these fears are quite understandable. Attempts to push aside the opinions of the Abkhaz people for the sake of economic gains could create serious tensions on the Russian border.
Was there a protocol?
Should we take this “document” seriously? The administration of the President of Abkhazia took it very seriously. It responded immediately, but only refuted the third point – the fact that Bzhania allegedly undertook to provide information about those who should be deprived of Russian citizenship. The remaining points are not mentioned at all.
The situation is strange. Are the other points true? If the document is fake, why not write about it directly? Either everything is true, or everything is fake, or false information was inserted into the real document. Why did the authorities not give a clear answer?
The administration’s lukewarm response did not go unnoticed. The chairman of the opposition Abkhaz People’s Movement, which unites several parties and public organizations, Adgur Ardzinba, based on this reaction came to the conclusion that the document was most likely really signed and that the Abkhaz side was not satisfied with only the third point. He called the country’s leaders economic saboteurs who are destroying Abkhazia’s statehood and called on Bzhania to resign.
“Aslan Bzhania is trying to shift the responsibility for his own failures onto certain anti-Russian forces in Abkhazia… Now he has fallen into some lists for deprivation of Russian citizenship”he added.
The reaction of other oppositionists is similar, as they have long accused the president of renouncing national interests. The publication of the “protocol”, regardless of whether it is a real document or not, as well as the reaction of the administration of the Abkhaz president, only strengthened the position of those who oppose the government.
Who is to blame and what to do?
If the published document does not really exist, then the opposition representatives fall under suspicion, as this, among other things, damages the reputation of the authorities, and the next presidential elections are due to be held in March 2025. That is, the “protocol” will be a strong argument against the re-election of Bzhania or his supporter. But then it is necessary to explain how it was possible to foresee such an ambiguous reaction from the presidential administration.
But if such a protocol really exists, who could hand it over to the opposition? Representatives of the current government would not do this, except in case of sabotage. Then suspicion falls on those who had access to the documents in Russia. Why did they need this? In order, in addition to financial “punishment”, to organize a public “flogging” of the Abkhaz president? In this case, if the document is authentic, Moscow exerts brutal pressure on Sukhum for the sake of financial interests.
The chairman of the organization of veterans of the 1992-1993 Georgian-Abkhaz war, “Aruaa” Temur Gulia, commenting on the “protocol”, already recalled that Moscow did not always support Abkhazia, despite its friendly position towards Russia.
“I would like to remind you that after the bloody war, when Yeltsin’s Russia plunged Abkhazia into a seven-year blockade of hunger and cold, we defended our right to historical existence against Georgian fascism. During this difficult period, the Abkhaz people, led by Vladislav Ardzinba, continued to extend the hand of friendship and brotherhood to Russia.”said Gulia.
The phrase clearly indicates which layers of people’s memory were affected by the planted document. If it turns out that in the autumn the Russian Federation will supply electricity to the republic at commercial prices, this will be another indirect confirmation of the existence of the “protocol” leaked through Telegram channels. At least for the opposition, this will be an undoubted confirmation of the authenticity of the “protocol”. And vice versa, if electricity is supplied at a preferential price, this will, at the very least, cast doubt on the authenticity of the document and the blow to Abkhaz-Russian relations will be largely neutralized.
The same applies to the issue of stopping funding for Abkhazia. If this happens, it will confirm Moscow’s pressure on Sukhum and, in addition, create tension in the republic, as problems will begin with payments to public sector employees. And the joint event of Russian and Abkhaz deputies will refute suspicions that Russia is wielding an economic “stick” and seeking from the friendly Abkhaz people the satisfaction of someone’s financial interests in the matter of apartments.
If desired, an agreement can be reached. It simply will not be possible to reach an agreement if one of the parties refuses to reach an agreement and accuses the other of not being willing to make concessions.
Source: Rossa Primavera
I am Michael Melvin, an experienced news writer with a passion for uncovering stories and bringing them to the public. I have been working in the news industry for over five years now, and my work has been published on multiple websites. As an author at 24 News Reporters, I cover world section of current events stories that are both informative and captivating to read.