31 August 2024
An as yet unverified document published by an opposition Telegram channel has suggested that Russia informed the government in Sukhumi that they would halt budgetary support to Abkhazia until a number of pro-Russian reforms were enacted, including lifting restrictions on the purchase of real estate in Abkhazia by Russian citizens.
The document published by the opposition Telegram channel Abkhaz Portal on Thursday is purported to be the minutes of a meeting on 19 August between Abkhazian President Aslan Bzhaniya and the Deputy Head of the Russian Presidential Administration, Dmitry Kozak.
In addition to suspending budgetary support for Abkhazia until it complied with Russia’s demands, the document suggested that President Bzhaniya had agreed to provide details of Abkhazian MPs and opposition figures who were ‘acting to the detriment of the interests of the Russian Federation and the development of Russian-Abkhaz relations’.
It stated that Russia would instruct Russian officials to cut contact with them due to their ‘unconstructive position on fulfilling obligations to the Russian side’ and that they would consider stripping them of Russian citizenship.
The document also stated that Russian electricity supplied to Abkhazia in the autumn–winter of 2024 would be charged at a commercial rate, having previously been subsidised.
According to the document, the Russian government’s demands in order for Russia’s Socio-Economic Development Programme for Abkhazia to continue included removing restrictions on Russian investors in the commercial real estate market.
Russia’s Socio-Economic Development Programme makes up a large proportion of Abkhazia’s government budget.
The issue of the sale of real estate has been a long-running sore between Russia and Abkhazia.
Earlier this year, the government was forced to drop a bill that would have legalised the sale of apartments to foreigners after it became clear the government did not have the necessary numbers in parliament to pass it.
The issue, as well as others including the transfer of the Pitsunda state dacha to Russia, have led to a growing rift in relations between Abkhazia and Russia, as well as large protests in Abkhazia.
The other demands in the document included Abkhazia ratifying an agreement with Russia on the recognition and enforcement of judicial and arbitration decisions in economic matters.
On Friday, the Abkhazian Presidential Administration denied to journalists that President Bzhaniya had not undertaken any obligations to provide information about MPs and opposition leaders in order to deprive them of Russian citizenship.
However, the President’s office did not dispute the authenticity of the document nor other items it contained.
Abkazian journalist Inal Khashig insisted that local law enforcement agencies were obliged to investigate the document and uncover its origin.
‘If this is a fake, then find the original source. And if this is an authentic document, then the president should resign early and all criminal procedural actions should take place’, he wrote on Telegram.
‘If the authorities dismiss the [document] without any reaction, this would confirm the absolute authenticity of the document, no matter how you look at it’, he added.
Aslan Kobakhia, a former Abkhazian MP, said the document, if genuine, represented a form of blackmail by Russia.
‘I have probably already said enough to deprive me of Russian citizenship, and maybe even more’, he wrote.
‘I am ready, I have honour, Hero of Abkhazia, General Aslan Kobakhia’, he wrote on his Facebook page, a post later shared by the opposition Telegram channel Aiashara.
Some opposition media outlets accused President Bzhaniya and Prime Minister Alexander Ankvab of taking on impossible obligations in order to avoid spoiling their relations with Russia, thereby ‘[letting] down the entire Abkhazian people’.
While the document has yet to be verified, it has been accompanied by increasing evidence of souring relations between the Kremlin and Bzhanya’s administration.
President Putin’s failure to offer congratulation on 26 August on Abkhazia’s ‘Day of International Recognition’ raised eyebrows in Abkhazia.
Several anonymous pro-Kremlin Telegram accounts have in recent weeks begun to publish posts critical of Bzhaniya.
Russia also abruptly cancelled an intergovernmental commission meeting due to take place on 26 August, with one Russian journalist with knowledge of the matter speaking on condition of anonymity telling OC Media that Russian delegates had already bought flights and booked hotel rooms for the meeting.
