Abkhaz Railway, Return of IDPs Discussed in Moscow

Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues Goga Khaindrava and Deputy Foreign Minister Merab Antadze, accompanied by officials from the state railway company and Ministry for Refugees and Accommodation, will visit Moscow on June 15-16 to participate in talks with the Abkhaz side over resumption of the railway connection and the return of internally displaced persons to Abkhazia.

Russian Foreign Ministry officials, as well as representatives from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will also participate in the talks.

These talks in Moscow are being held within so called ‘Sochi format.’ In March, 2003 Russian President Vladimir Putin and then-Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze agreed, during a meeting in Sochi, to resume the railway connection between the two countries via Abkhazia and simultaneously launch the process of returning Georgian internally displaced persons to Abkhazia.

The Sochi agreement also envisages the rehabilitation of the Enguri hydro power plant, which is located at the administrative border between Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia.

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