De-facto lawmakers of Abkhazia’s puppet regime on Wednesday ratified an agreement between the governments of Abkhazia and Russia on the implementation by a Russian legal entity of an investment project to resume the activities and further operation of the V. G. Ardzinba Sokhumi Airport.
The topic of handing over of the Sukhumi airport to Russia is not new, it periodically pops up and is discussed under every de-facto president of Abkhazia. It is impossible to restore it on its own, the current de-facto government says that the first stage of the airport reconstruction will require about 6 billion rubles (US$ 66.2 million), according RFE/RL's Echo of the Caucasus.
According to the report, there is always a lot of controversy around the Sokhumi airport about whether it is possible to give such an important strategic facility to a foreign investor. And yesterday the de-facto parliament of Abkhazia has decided that it is possible: by an overwhelming number of votes, the deputies ratified the agreement on leasing it for 45 years to a foreign investor.
Who will become the owner of this very valuable asset is not yet known. It was said that de-facto government had two applications under consideration.
Abkhazia’s puppet regime’s decision has been condemned by the president of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili. “I strongly condemn and protest the decision by so-called parliament of temporarily occupied Abkhazia to transfer strategic location - Sokhumi airport to Russia,” the President wrote on her twitter, adding that it is an “illegal act by Russia that requires a categorical and firm reaction of the international community!”
Abkhazia is a Russian-occupied region of Georgia, which Russia recognised as an independent state in 2008 – a move that violated international law norms. Currently the region is led by a puppet regime, which is considered illegitimate by international society.
