Aug 07, 2007

Abkhazia: Hopeful ahead of Olympic Preparations


The President of Abkhazia, Sergey Bagapsh, has stated a desire to work with Russian companies providing building materials for the 2014 Winter Olympics in nearby Sochi.
The president of Abkhazia, Sergey Bagapsh, has stated a desire to work with Russian companies providing building materials for the 2014 Winter Olympics in nearby Sochi.

Below is an article written by Nino Mumladze and published by The Messenger

Russian construction companies want to use Abkhaz building materials in preparation works for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi despite no official Russian proposal to involve Abkhazia, said the breakaway region's de facto leader, Sergey Bagapsh.

"Our cooperation on Olympics-related projects will be held at the level of private companies…Abkhazia will benefit from additional jobs and another source for budget revenue over the course of seven years," Bagapsh explained on August 2 [2007], according to Abkhaz news agency Apsnypress.

Bagapsh voiced the need for developing facilities in the host town of Sochi, located less than 20 miles from Abkhazia, and suggested Abkhaz construction supplies could be provided.

"Sochi will need up to 20-22 million cubic meters of crushed stone. With good, organized work, we'll be able to make up to a million cubic meters of it annually," the de facto leader stated.

Bagapsh claimed that 12 companies are ready to invest a total of USD 15 million in raw building material production in Abkhazia.

While most investors in the region are interested in resort properties like spas and hotels, the Abkhaz de facto administration claims to be more concerned with promoting production and developing small and medium businesses. Foreign interest in the raw material industry is therefore an exciting prospect for the de facto authorities.

Abkhaz de facto authorities have been careful to point out that any work currently proposed is with commercial entities in Russia-there are no interstate relations on the Olympics issue yet, they say, despite what Georgian authorities claim. However, cooperation beyond the commercial realm has not been ruled out by separatist officials.

Indeed, Bagapsh suggested that talks may be held soon with Moscow on the matter, as well as with officials from the Russian district of Krasnodar, which borders Abkhazia.

Russian authorities have sent mixed signals. On July 9 [2007], Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov said it was difficult to imagine holding the Olympics in Sochi without the participation of "such a neighbor as Abkhazia."

Ten days later, Russian deputy PM Aleksandr Zhukov repeated the stance, saying cement-producing factories could be built in the separatist region to supply construction works in Sochi.

Ten days later, Russian deputy PM Aleksandr Zhukov repeated the stance, saying cement-producing factories could be built in the separatist region to supply construction works in Sochi. 

Ten days later, Russian deputy PM Aleksandr Zhukov repeated the stance, saying cement-producing factories could be built in the separatist region to supply construction works in Sochi.

But after Georgia and US criticism over those statements, Vyacheslav Kovalenko, Russian Ambassador to Georgia, reiterated Moscow's interest in including Abkhazia in pre-Olympic works but clarified that "no one has ever said Russia is going to do this without Georgia."

During his visit to Tbilisi in July, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza called Russia's attempts to involve Abkhazia in the preparation works "a mistake." The previous day, parliamentary speaker Nino Burjanadze warned Russia that if it carried out investments in Abkhazia without Georgia's consent, the 2014 Winter Olympics could share the fate of the 1980 Moscow Games, which were heavily boycotted in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan the year before.