ANALYTICS

'Join Russia and give land to the Armenians' - that's why the Abkhaz fought with the Georgians

17.04.21 17:00


A series of articles in the Russian Novaya Gazeta devoted to separatist Abkhazia has finally come to the main material, for the sake of which this information campaign in this media was actually started. Irina Tumakova's article is titled “Join Russia? That's not why we fought the Georgians "(https://novayagazeta.ru/articles/2021/04/05/prisoediniatsia-k-rossii-ne-dlia-togo-my-voevali-s-gruzinami) and has the subtitle" Kremlin invites Abkhazia to voluntarily "harmonize" and unite in a "common social and economic space".

 

Previous materials by Irina Tumakova described the bleak picture of life on the separatist territory, the consequences of mass looting and expulsion of the Georgian population, the complete decline of the economy and infrastructure. However, the reader was deliberately "led away" from the most obvious way of solving these problems - reunification with Georgia. Those. there was a special impression that "the Abkhazians themselves are not capable of ruling on their land." At the same time, nowhere was there even a word that the Abkhazians in Abazia had long since become a minority, and the dominant ethnic group here is the Armenian community, which completely controls the separatist economy (and therefore is also responsible for total looting, collapse, and degradation).

 

Deliberately the reader was led to the idea - Russia recognized the so-called. "Independence" of Abkhazia, invests money and all to no avail. Or maybe it would be better to annex Abkhazia to Russia and so “solve all the problems”? And for this it is necessary, for a start, to "harmonize" the separatist legislation with the Russian one, in particular, to give the opportunity to acquire land and real estate to those who do not have separatist citizenship.


By the way, this is what the Armenian lobby dreams of most of all. Indeed, in this case, what future awaits Abkhazia may well be given by the following map - the share of the population of Armenian nationality in the regions of Greater Sochi of the Krasnodar Territory adjacent to Abkhazia:

 

“This Armenian balcony over the coast is perfectly visible on the map. On the border with Abkhazia, there is a real "Armenian kingdom".

 

That is, the "Armenian kingdom" with over 71% of the Armenian population on the border with separatist Abkhazia was already in 2010. By 2021, the share of Armenians in this "kingdom" clearly increased - there are no less than 90% of them.

 

The “Armenian kingdom” would gladly “spread” to the lands of separatist Abkhazia, but this is still hampered by the lack of “harmonization” of separatist legislation with the Russian one, which does not allow Armenians to buy out most of the land and housing in Abkhazia and bring their share here to 71-80%, or even more percent.

 

This is hindered by the "irresponsible" Abkhaz separatists, who naively believe that they fought with the brotherly Georgian people for "independence". While they killed and expelled the brothers with the participation of Russian troops and militants from the battalion named after Baghramyan, only to later donate their land to the “ancient long-suffering people”.

 

Irina Tumakova's last article is also devoted to the "irresponsibility" of the Abkhaz separatists. Here, of course, not a word is written about how Armenian nationalists are waiting for the opportunity to buy Abkhazia and completely populate it with their fellow tribesmen, but those who understand the separatist realities guess who has the greatest interest in joining Abkhazia to Russia.

 

The last article by Irina Tukmakova, dedicated to the "unconscious inhibition" by the Abkhaz of the almost inevitable "sentence" to their ethnic group after joining the Russian Federation:

 

The “list of priority tasks” in Russian-Abkhaz relations appeared on the Web after the recent publications of “Novaya” about the republic. A scan of a sheet with an unfinished list was sent to me by two interlocutors who did not know each other. One wrote that Russia "puts Bzhania (President of Abkhazia) on the counter", threatening to deprive the republic of money. Another is that, on the contrary, Bzhania sent a list of promises to President Putin in response to threats to cut aid. One could ignore the "leak" from nowhere without a title page and signatures. But, firstly, in the Abkhaz parliament, adopting the budget for this year only on March 31, they complained that Russia has not yet “opened funding”. Secondly, the "leak" has a "prototype": a program, the implementation of which will turn Abkhazia into the 86th region of the Russian Federation.

 

In November 2020, the President of Abkhazia Aslan Bzhania came to Sochi to visit Vladimir Putin. The meeting lasted three hours. During this time, three news appeared on the website of the Abkhaz president: "negotiations are underway", "negotiations are continuing", "negotiations are over." At the end of the event, the Kremlin website published a short transcript of these messages. Here is a quote from Vladimir Putin's greeting: "We can discuss issues of mutual interest today calmly, without haste,". And this is what Aslan Bzhania told reporters when he returned to Sukhumi: "We discussed a wide range of issues of mutual interest."

 

Two weeks later, Russian news agencies reported that during the meeting of the presidents, a program was “approved” for “forming a common social and economic space” between Russia and Abkhazia by “harmonizing the legislation” of the young republic. The full text is available on the website of the President of Abkhazia….

 

In Georgia, the program was called an "annexation element". At the same time, in Abkhazia itself, people strive for "annexation" in a completely different way than they used to think in Russia.
Twelve years of partnership somehow weakened this desire in them.
“We love Russia,” the former Deputy Prosecutor General of Abkhazia, and now one of the leaders of the opposition movement Aidgylara, Eshsou Kakaliya, assured me in Sukhumi. - But we do not want to join Russia. It is not for this that we have been at war with the Georgians for independence for so many years, then to join Russia.

 

After 12 years of friendship and cooperation, various Russian and Abkhaz sources say that Russia has invested 40 to 45 billion rubles in Abkhazia. In fact, the amount is understated by about a third. If we focus on the reports of the Federal Treasury on the execution of budgets for 2009-2020 and January 2021, then the “improvement of the welfare” of Abkhazia has already cost Russian taxpayers 63.2 billion rubles...

 

The "harmonization" program is designed for two years. It contains 45 points, among which there are quite understandable in the relations of partner countries: the settlement of issues of dual citizenship and double taxation, customs rules, tariffs, and so on...

 

Russia devotes one year to Abkhazia to develop laws on education, donation, immunization, geodesy, strategic planning, on social services for citizens. During the year, Abkhazians are offered to learn how to distribute budgetary funds, handle government loans, help people with disabilities, and insure against accidents. This, for a minute, 12 years after Russia recognized the sovereignty of Abkhazia...

 

In addition to such methods of "strengthening statehood", the program provides for legislative innovations directly related to Russia. For example, point 4 assumes the admission of investments in the Abkhazian energy sector by "Russian power grid companies". And already before June 2021...

 

The battered Abkhaz power grid is not exactly a tidbit. But it actually includes the Inguri hydroelectric power station, which is located so that the Abkhaz-Georgian border divides the station in half. Georgia fully serves it, Abkhazia does not invest a dime in it, but only consumes electricity.


Roughly speaking, whoever gets his hands on the Abkhazian energy sector will also receive a "switch" from the Georgian power plant.

 

But here's the problem: the law of Abkhazia prevents Russian companies from taking over the debts of the Abkhaz energy system: it prohibits foreigners from investing in the energy sector. The “harmonization” program proposes to remove this obstacle.
A separate item in the program provides for the adoption of laws that will allow Russian (namely Russian) banks to collect loan debts from Abkhaz citizens. There is no proper credit system in the republic.

 

- These are not your Russian loans, here Sberbank will not run after you, begging to repay the debt, - says journalist Anton Krivenyuk. - If you don't give it on time - people come to you and shoot in your legs...

 

The program also prescribes to "harmonize" taxes and customs duties. This means that in Abkhazia, the sale of gasoline past the cash register, and right-hand drive cars from Japan, cleared for 20 thousand rubles, will end...

 

In short, with such a gift from the Russian Federation, President Bzhania returned from Sochi in November last year. The document did not provoke violent protests in Abkhazia, apparently because no one particularly advertised it. As if they were not going to perform.

 

“From the very beginning, it was clear that most of the points of this program in Abkhazia would be hostile,” says Tatiana Poloskova, State Counselor of the Russian Federation of the first class (formerly head of the department for work with compatriots and the CIS countries under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation). “And after the signing of the program, Abkhazia did nothing to start following it. Russia, apparently, waited as long as it could. Now, out of nowhere, this "list of priorities" has surfaced, in fact - a short version of the program. And he has already caused a lot of noise in Abkhazia. Now the opposition will probably use it against Bzhania.

 

Citizens of Abkhazia easily get a Russian passport, 90 percent of the republic's population already have one, and at the same time some benefits from the Russian budget. But those who have only Russian citizenship in Abkhazia can neither conduct business, nor buy housing or land.

 

“Our country is not so big that we could sell our land,” says Tamila Mertskhulava, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Abkhazia. - So many of our citizens died for this land! It's not for us to trade it. If you want to use our land, please, but we cannot sell.

 

Many people in Abkhazia say something like this aloud. Then they quietly add something else.

 

“We are following what happens in Crimea after it became Russian,” one former major Abkhaz official explained to me.
- If Russians start buying land from us, soon we ourselves will not be able to approach any beach.
Yours will want - and the Ritsa reserve will be built up...

 

The President and Prime Minister signed the program of "harmonization" and "improvement of welfare" on the part of Abkhazia. On the part of Russia - Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration. To assess the level of "partnership", other characteristics are probably not required.

 

Five months have passed, Abkhazia has not made any progress on a single point. Until the end of March, the Abkhaz parliament could not adopt the budget for this year: 60 percent of the revenue side should have been Russian money, and “the Russian side did not open funding,” the deputies explained. The budget was adopted on the last day of March. Unfortunately, the website of the Russian Treasury does not yet have data on expenditures in March, so it is not known whether Abkhazia received money, promises, or something else.

 

“If Bzhania begins to implement the program, the opposition will immediately rise in Abkhazia, the president will not sit still for a long time,” Tatiana Poloskova believes. - If it does not, then there are three options for the development of events. First: Russia is planting in Abkhazia someone like an "external manager" who will defend its interests on the spot. Second: it cuts off funding. Third: withdraws the recognition of independence. Although there is also a fourth option: everything will remain as it is."

 

In general, everything is clear. "Everything as it is" is unlikely to remain. Abkhazian "independence" will in fact be liquidated, and the separatist territory will be annexed to Russia. After the accession, the remaining approximately 50 thousand Abkhazians will not be able to oppose anything, in addition to the 120 thousand Armenians already on the separatist territory, and another 200-300 thousand Armenians from the Krasnodar Territory of the Russian Federation, Armenia, and "Artsakh" to buy Abkhaz land for a pittance. and real estate or buy it back for a pittance from banks, which will take it away as collateral for loans. As a result, the "Armenian kingdom" in separatist Abkhazia will be established within just a few years.

 

You have to pay for everything in this life ... And for the betrayal of the brothers, and for the huge "handouts" that the invaders paid to the separatists by no means "for beautiful eyes."

 

But brothers must be willing to make peace and forgive. It is precisely in reconciliation with the fraternal Georgian people and returns to a single Georgian state that is the guarantee of the very preservation of the Abkhaz ethnos.

 

 

KavkazPlus

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