On June 30, the de facto President of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, hosted the Head of the Directorate for interregional Relations and Cultural Contacts with Foreign Countries of the Russian Presidential Administration, Igor Maslov, who oversees the occupied regions of Georgia.

During his visit to Abkhazia, Mr. Maslov together with a Russian delegation visited Russian funded projects under construction. According to Maslov, the goal of the Russian side is to make sure that the socio-economic indicators of Abkhazia reaches the indicators of the Southern Federal District of Russia by 2025.

Before the meeting with Aslan Bzhania, Igor Maslov met with the de facto Vice-President, Badra Gunba, at the so-called border of Abkhazia and Russia. The meeting discussed the simplified crossing of the so-called border. The Head of the so-called State Security Service, Robert Kiut, also participated in the meeting. A working group on this issue was established in May by a decree of Bzhania. The first meeting of the working group was held on May 12.

On July 1, Igor Maslov and Aslan Bzhania visited the Sokhumi airport, the restoration of which was one of Bzhania's “presidential promises.” In 1993, after the end of the Georgian-Abkhazian war, flights to and from the airport were suspended. On August 11, 2008, for the first time in 15 years, several dozen Russian military transport planes (Il-76) landed at the airport. On September 14, the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, landed at the airport for the first time after the end of the war. Before Russia's military aggression in Ukraine, Bzhania was hoping to rehabilitate and open the airport by 2024. In the wake of the war, most likely, the airport will not be rehabilitated by this period.

On July 1, Igor Maslov met with the de facto Prime Minister, Alexander Ankvab. On the same day, Maslov was hosted by “deputies” and the Speaker of the de facto parliament, Lasha Ashuba.

On July 2, Maslov and Bzhania visited the so-called Eastern Abkhazia, as well as the Bedia and Mokvi temples and the port of Ochamchire. The guest honoured the grave of the second de facto president, Sergei Bagapsh, in the village of Jgerda. Maslov personally knew Bagapsh. Later, Maslov visited vineyards of the Wine and Beverages of Abkhazia company in the village of Labra.

This was Maslov's first visit to Abkhazia after his appointment to this position on March 2, 2021. In 2013-2020, the role of the Directorate for Interregional Relations and Cultural Contacts with Foreign Countries was weakened in relation to the occupied regions of Georgia, however, after the appointment of Dmitry Kozak as the Deputy Head of the Russian Presidential Administration in January 2020, the directorate became a leading agency. Today, Maslov is one of the main officials responsible for the direction of the de facto republics of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region.