Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak arrived in Abkhazia on Monday, where he held high-level meetings with Abkhazian President Badra Gunba and touted the growth of bilateral economic ties.
Novak has served as the Kremlin’s curator for Abkhazia since 2022, although Sergei Kiriyenko, the First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Russian Presidential Administration, has increasingly taken centrestage as Russia’s representative in Abkhazia.
Official readouts from both the Russian government and the Abkhazian state-run media outlet Apsnypress highlighted similar elements of the talks between Novak and Gunba, leading with the increase in bilateral trade turnover since 2020.
‘The volume of trade between [Russia and Abkhazia] grew by 60%’, Novak said. Gunba concurred, noting that, ‘based on the results of 2022–2025, we see positive results: trade turnover has increased significantly, GDP has increased by 187%’.
In comments to reporters following the meeting, Novak told journalists that the draft programme for the socio-economic development of Abkhazia from 2026–2030 will be approved by the beginning of November.
‘‘Russia provides support, including financial support, so that the republic can independently ensure its development in the future’, Novak said, noting that the new programme will implement new investment projects, provide support for small and medium enterprises, implement the provision of social payments, and work to improve Abkhazia’s energy supply.
Gunba thanked Russia for its consistent support of Abkhazia and said that surmounting the many problems faced by Sukhumi (Sukhum) would be very difficult without help from Moscow.
For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.
Elizaveta Chukharova
