The de facto Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Economy of Abkhazia, Kristina Ozgan, met with a delegation of the Russian Federation. The delegation comprised of the Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Dmitry Volvach, the Deputy Minister of Energy, Yevgeny Grabchak, the Director of the Department for Special Programs and Projects of the Ministry of Economic Development, overseeing the directions of Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region, Vitaly Gudin, and his Deputy Anton Melnik.

On the way from the Russian “border” to Sokhumi, the guests inspected social and infrastructure facilities which were restored under the Russian investment program, including the Park Prince of Oldenburg in Gagra, the reconstruction of which should be completed by the end of the year, and two Gagra substations – Gagra-1 (throughput capacity - 110 kV), and Bzyb (throughput capacity – 220 kV). Reconstruction of the Bzyb substation is planned within the framework of the 2020-2022 investment program and is aimed at increasing its throughput capacity.

Later, the de facto President of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, received the Russian delegation. Bzhania stressed the importance of the Russian assistance in the fight against the coronavirus and thanked for the deployment of a military hospital and doctors. At the same time, he noted that “the issue of the vaccination is still acute” and ask the Russian side to provide an additional batch of the vaccine in September, as well as all possible assistance in the wake of recent natural disasters.

Volvach noted that the Russian side confirms its readiness to strengthen Russian-Abkhaz relations. He said that some of the inspected facilities cause joy and pride. Until now, facilities of cultural heritage and the energy industry were the subject of restoration and such facilities, as a matter of priority, will be included in our next programs. According to Volvach, trade turnover between Russia and Abkhazia is growing and its volume exceeded USD 143 million in the first half of the year, which is 43% higher than last year.

Bzhania noted that a draft of the 2022-2025 program promoting the socio-economic development of Abkhazia is under discussion at the domestic level. He listed the directions that should be included in the new program: the development of road infrastructure, electricity, water supply and sewerage, restoration and commissioning of the airport, railways, maritime traffic, utilization of solid household waste, restoration of individual monuments of Christian culture, issues related to the tax sphere, work regimes on the state border, etc. Bzhania expressed hope for further assistance from Russia.