Publication: N20 / Review Period: May 1-31, 2024

The review is being prepared within the framework of the Roadmap to the Kremlin's Policy in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali Region project. The purpose of the review is to provide readers with information about main events and trends in the occupied regions of Georgia. The review is a monthly publication and will be useful for decision-makers, public employees, media representatives and other people who are interested in the developments taking place in the occupied regions of Georgia.

Abkhazia

Developments in the „Ministry of Foreign Affairs“

On May 7, the de facto President of occupied Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, dismissed the de facto Minister of Foreign Affairs, Inal Ardzinba, from the post and designated Ardzinba's deputy, Irakli Tuzhba, as acting “Minister.” Ardzinba was appointed as “minister” on November 17, 2021. He often made harsh statements, especially about the activities of international and local non-governmental organizations in occupied Abkhazia. Ardzinba was the main lobbyist for the adoption of the so-called “foreign agents” law which has not been adopted so far.

Irakli Tuzhba

Ardzinba's release raised questions. Bzhania's decree, unlike other cases, did not specify the reason for the release. Later, a Russian propagandist Margarita Simonyan distributed a message that Ardzinba wrote to her: “I submitted my resignation in connection with the transition to a new Job. This was a planned decision. Now I am in Moscow.” The Secretary of the de facto Security Council, Sergey Shamba, also confirmed this version. A few days before his release, Ardzinba tried himself as a Russian TV presenter and recorded an interview with the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, as part of a new special project “Global Majority.”

Later, Ardzinba confirmed that moving to a new job in Russia was a planned decision. “For more effective work, for more effective support of the Republic of Abkhazia, I made this decision - to develop contacts, to work in the Russian Federation.” It is still unknown where Ardzinba started working. Information about his resignation has been reported multiple times.

Ardzinba's dismissal was followed by another loud decision in the “Ministry.” On May 28, Tuzhba was dismissed from the post of acting “minister” and the duty was assigned to the second deputy of the “minister,” Odyssey Bigvava. Tuzhba's American trip is cited as the reason for such a decision. On May 7, when Tuzhba was appointed as an acting minister, he was in the USA on a scheduled vacation. According to reports, Tuzhba's wife works in one of the non-governmental organizations. It seems that against the background of Russia's confrontation with the West, the visit to the USA turned out to be a “compromise” for Tuzhba's career advancement.

Odyssey Bigvava

Information Center of the „President“

The opening of the „Information Center of the President of the Republic of Abkhazia“ at the Goodow Plaza Business Center on May 16 should be considered in the context of Ardzinba’s release. According to the Coordinator of the Center, Milana Tsvizhba, the main goal of the Center is to create a new, more effective system for promptly informing the public on a wide range of ongoing issues. The platform seems to have replaced the de facto media center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whose Telegram channel is no longer searchable after May 13. It is interesting that Tsvizhba has been the coordinator of the media center since 2022, the creation of which was ​​Ardzinba’s idea, who used the media center for his own political purposes. The new Information Center will already serve the interests of Bzhania. In 2025, illegitimate presidential elections will be held in occupied Abkhazia. Bzhania, who plans to run for another term, will use the new Information Center for his election campaign.  

Video-Bridge and the Confederation Issue

On May 23, the Sokhumi-Moscow video bridge – „Abkhazia and Russia in the context of new geopolitical realitias“ was held. Sergei Shamba, the Secretary of the de facto Security Council, also participated in the video bridge from the Abkhaz side. During the video bridge, an opinion was voiced about the scenario of a confederation formation with the participation of Georgia and occupied Abkhazia. According to Shamba, „experts conclude that Georgia is changing its foreign policy vector from West to East, that there are plans to establish some kind of confederal relations, that in the future Russia may refuse to recognize the independence of Abkhazia. Many experts have formed the opinion that the Russian Federation alegedly wants to create a confederation of Georgia and Abkhazia due to the current events in Georgia. Of course, we have to take into account different options for the development of events, although we do not consider this state of affairs realistic. We still hope that it will be a different format, a different integration, more of a union state (with Russia and Belarus).“

The confederation issue is periodically discussed in the Abkhaz media. There are opinions that in exchange for rapprochement between Tbilisi and Moscow, Russia may make concessions with Georgia on the issue of the occupied regions, which may be manifested in the creation of a confederation. In this regard, it is noteworthy that they negatevly deemed Shamba's statement in Abkhazia, since he did not categorically refuse a confederation creation.

May 9 without Bzhania

Bzhania did not participate in the celebration of the 79th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War, which took place in Moscow on May 9. Bzhania congratulated the Russian President on the holiday in a letter. The de facto President of the Tskhinvali region, Alan Gagloyev, also limited himself to a telephone congratulation. The absence of Bzhania and Gagloyev while the presidents of Guinea-Bissau, Cuba and Laos, as well as leaders of Central Asian countries were present at the ceremony raised some doubts. The media suggested that Moscow took a similar step in the context of normalization of relations with Tbilisi. However, it should be noted that de facto leaders of the occupied regions last attended a May 9 event in Moscow in 2020, when they celebrated the 75th anniversary of the victory.

Another Georgian „Spy“ Arrested in Abkhazia

According to the so-called State Security Service, a citizen of Georgia, who is also a „citizen“ of Abkhazia, Kakha Muradov, was arrested in Gagra on April 24. He is suspected of „state treason in favor of Georgia.“ As per the Service reports, „Muradov tried to involve the residents of Abkhazia in activities that would serve the interest of restoring the territorial integrity of Georgia. Muradov collected and transmitted information to the Special Services of a hostile country to the detriment of the interests of the Republic of Abkhazia.“

According to the Service, „Muradov was born in Abkhazia in 1977. In 1994-1999 he worked in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, and in 1999 he came to Abkhazia. One of his tasks was to keep an eye on trains entering Abkhazia from Russia, to find out whether the trains were loaded with armored vehicles or other military equipment.“ The criminal case against Muradov was initiated on May 9.

Interrogation of Kakha Muradov

The issue of „spies“ working for the Georgian Special Services has become an urgent issue in Abkhazia in recent years. In the background of the Russian military aggression in Ukraine, they fear in the occupied regions that the Georgian Special Services will take advantage of the created situation and activate their efforts on their territory. In 2023, a Georgian citizen, Kristine Takalandze, was convicted of „espionage.“

Tskhinvali Region

Illegal Parliamentary Elections

On June 9, illegitimate parliamentary elections will be held in Tskhinvali. A total of 112 majority candidates and seven political parties will take part in the „elections.“ Out of 12, only seven parties were registered: United Ossetia Party (enjoys the support of the former de facto president, Anatoly Bibilov), People's Party (supported by the former de facto president, Eduard Kokoity, for years; currently, members of the Patriots of Alania Party are also on the party list. The Patriots of Alania Party which enjoys the support of Jambolat Tedeev, forged a pre-election alliance with People's Party), Unity of the People Party (the party has been an ally of the United Ossetia Party in the past years), Nykhas (enjoys the support of the de facto President, Alan Gagloyev), Communist Party, Unity and Iri Farn.

Registration was refused to the For Justice Party whose list included three scandalously known acting MPs: Gary Muldarov, David Sanakoev and Jambolat Medoev. All three MPs received a notice from Russia's Federal Security Service to revoke their Russian citizenship, citing „actions that contribute to the escalation of tensions near the Russian border“ as the reason for the decision. The document does not specify the actions, although it might be related to activity in the direction of establishing the „border“ with Georgia. All three „deputies“ supported establishing the „state border“ with Georgia. The fact that the party and deputies were not allowed to participate in the "elections" is connected with their increased popularity in the occupied region, which was not acceptable to Gagloyev and, apparently, to government officials in Moscow as well.

It is interesting that within the frame of the election campaign there are also debates between „deputy“ candidates. One of the discussion topics is also the issue of „own armed forces against the background of revanchist sentiments in Georgia.“

Russian-Georgian Business Council and the Transit Issue

On May 14, the VII extended meeting of the Russian-Georgian Business Council under the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry was held in Moscow. The meeting discussed the development of Russian-Georgian relations. The Vice-President of the Chamber, Vladimir Padalko, noted „great ambitions“ in direction of road transportation, including through the Tskhinvali region, as well as the revival of railway communications (previously there were talks about the construction of a railway line from Ingushetia). Participants of the meeting were read a letter of the Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Dmitry Volvach, who oversees the occupied regions. Recently, the idea of ​​transit through the occupied Tskhinvali region has been voiced several times against the background of improving relations between Georgia and Russia. Given the sanctions imposed on Russia by the West, Moscow is looking for alternative routes, and in this regard, the development of economic relations through the Tskhinvali region is considered one of the options.

Former Ambassador of Iran to Russia Visited Tskhinvali

On May 14, the de facto President of the occupied Tskhinvali region, Alan Gagloyev, hosted the General Director of the Charitable Association for the Development of Science and Technology of Iran, Seyed Mahmoud Reza Sajjad, in Tskhinvali. The guest visited the occupied region together with Albert Jusoev, a businessman of Ossetian origin working in Russia (President of Stroiprogress).   

During the visit, a memorandum of cooperation was signed between the Iranian organization and the de facto Ministry of Economic Development. Sajjad also met with the de facto Prime Minister.

Sajjad was Iran's ambassador to Russia in 2009-2013. At the meeting, the former ambassador expressed hope that he will help the Tskhinvali region in the development of economy and industry. Sajjad's visit is noteworthy since it is the first visit of such a high-level Iranian to the occupied region, which may indicate some changes in Tehran's policy towards the occupied regions of Georgia.

Seyed Sajjad and Alan Gagloyev

President of a Chinese Company Visited Tskhinvali

On May 16, the de facto Prime Minister of the occupied Tskhinvali region, Konstantin Jusoev, hosted the President of the Fujian Tianrun Yongshun Supply Chain Chinese company, Wu Keguang. The Chinese guest was accompanied by Albert Jusoev. The parties discussed the potential for cooperation in a number of promising areas such as tourism and mining industry, the possibility of automotive industry in the Tskhinvali region was especially emphisized. At the initial stage, the Chinese side is considering assemblying of small vehicles. In April, Wu Yinghui, a representative of another Chinese investment company - Sabrina, visited the Tskhinvali region. At this stage, it is difficult to say how realistic Chinese investments are in the occupied region. However, it is noteworthy that visits of Chinese companys reps coincide with the period when relations between Georgia and China are developing.

Wu Keguang in Tskhinvali

IPRM 119th Meeting in Ergneti 

On May 16, the 119th meeting of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) format was held in Ergneti. A representative of Tskhinvali, Egor Kochiev, spoke about the violation of the „state border“ by Georgian citizens. According to him, „in most cases it is either out of ignorance or under the influence of alcohol, in which case the humanitarian method is applied to them and they are only fined or deported from the region.” Kochiev also spoke about the inadmissibility of violation of the „state border“ by representatives of the EU Monitoring Mission as well as about the cancellation of the Georgian police checkpoint in the village of Chorchana, the delimitation and demarcation of the "state border" and the violation of the airspace of the so-called „South Ossetia“ by unmanned aerial vehicles.

Among the positive issues, Kochiev talked about the water supply to Tsinagari zone villages. According to him, the Georgian side is ready to get, and the Ossetian side is ready to supply water, including through the Tirifoni Canal. The sharing of irrigation water is one of the rare issues agreed on during the Ergneti meetings.

The next 120th meeting was scheduled for July 23.

Personnel Changes

On May 28, Gagloev released the de facto Deputy Minister of Defense, Vefkhia Tandelov. He was appointed to this post on April 12, 2023. On May 18, Ossetian Telegram channels reported that Tandelov was arrested in North Ossetia for smuggling cigarettes in a car with diplomatic license plates. It is interesting that the de facto Defense Minister, Marat Pavlov, was released on April 18. His dismissal is connected with the arrest of the „Minister’s“  driver for cigarette smuggling. According to local media reports, the driver transporting smuggled cigarettes in an official car was arrested in Vladikavkaz in April.

Cigarette smuggling is a common practice in the Tskhinvali region. Tobacco products „legally“ enter the region from third countries, through Russia, from where they are smuggled into Russia and Georgia.

There are other versions of Pavlov's release. According to one of which Pavlov started an inspection in the de facto Ministry of Defense and revealed violations affecting those persons close to Gagloyev.

Statement of the Prime Minister of Georgia and Responses of the Occupied Regions

On May 26, 2024, at a ceremony dedicated to the independence of Georgia, the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze, said – „Our „promised land,“ the Georgian dream, is that 40 years after the restoration of Georgia's independence - in 2030, we will live in a united and strong Georgia together with our Abkhaz and Ossetian brothers and sisters.“

On May 27, the de facto Ministry of Foreign Affairs of occupied Abkhazia released a statement. „It is obvious that such populist statements are made on the eve of the upcoming parliamentary elections and are aimed primarily at a domestic audience. Any attempts by the Georgian leadership to return the Republic of Abkhazia to Georgia are futile. We consider it necessary to state once again that the Republic of Abkhazia is an independent state and continues to follow the path of strengthening its sovereignty. The people of the Republic of Abkhazia have made their final choice which is not subject to any revision.“

The occupied Tskhinvali region's de facto Ministry of Foreign Affairs also responded to the Kobakhidze’s statement. „The people of South Ossetia have made their irrevocable choice in favor of building their sovereign statehood and strengthening friendly relations and integration ties with the Russian Federation - the only real guarantor of the republic's peace and security.“