In Moscow, on March 5, 2019, at the Ministry of North Caucausus Affairs of Russian Federation was                         discussed formation of Russian and de facto Republic of Abkhazian Joint Information-Coordination Centre. The working meeting was held by Deputy Minister Igor Koshin, who is the curator of Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali Region at the Ministry.

Participants of the workshop discussed issues related to creation of necessary conditions for the effective work of the Centre, including the possibility of reconstruction activities in the building of the Centre. Representatives of Russian Internal Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Finance and North Caucasus Affairs Ministers participated in the meeting.

In Sukhumi, the Joint Information-Coordination Centre of Internal Affairs Ministries of Russian Federation and the de facto Republic of Abkhazia was created following to February 11, 2019, Russian-Abkhazian socio-economic intergovernmental cooperation committee co-chairs’ Decree and November 24, 2014, agreement between Russia and Abkhazia on Alliance and Strategic Partnership. In Sochi, on May 18, 2017, agreement on Establishment of the Center was signed by Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Russia Igor Zubov, who oversees the field of policing in Abkhazia from the Russian side, and the de facto Minister of Internal Affairs of Abkhazia Aslan Kobakhia.

The main objectives of the Centre are: organizing important information exchange between Law Enforcement Agencies of Russia and Abkhazia, formation and processing of databases for organized criminal groups, support to conduct interstate search and cooperate in combat against crime.

It is interesting that reactions varied in Abkhazia regarding the Center establishment. On 26 July 2017, the de-facto Parliament of Abkhazia ratified the foundational agreement of the Center. Only 23 out of 34 MPs supported the decision, with nine going against, whilst two were absent. The issue of the creation of the Center sparked a serious public concern in Abkhazia. The opponents of the creation of the Center were stating that “by founding a joint Center the government renounced the independence of Abkhazia”. According to the supporters of the Center, the work of the structure, which will not have the authority “to undertake investigations”, will further activate the combat against crime. The proponents of the creation of the Center were forced to take the existing negative positions into account, which meant the reduction of the number of employees of the Center to 20 people.

In future, the Joint Information-Coordination Center will give Russia additional control over the law enforcement sphere. As for the Defense and Border Security, Russia has been in full control of Abkhazia since 2008.