Moscow, Tbilisi, Sokhumi Agree on Timeframe for Railway Assessment

The Abkhaz, Georgian and Russian sides agreed during talks in the Abkhaz capital Sokhumi on July 19 to set up a 41-member joint group to assess the current condition of the Abkhaz portion of the railway system, the Abkhaz news agency Apsnipress reported.

Mikhail Akulov, an official from the Russian state-owned Railway Company, said that the joint group will launch assessment works beginning on August 9 which will last for 45 days. The group will submit a report over the condition of the railway on October 1.

The talks in Sokhumi were the latest in a series of negotiations between the Abkhaz, Georgian and Russian side, which aim at rehabilitating the Russo-Georgian railway via breakaway Abkhazia.

Major rehabilitation works will be carried out on the portion of the railway which lies between Sokhumi and Zugdidi, in Georgia?s Samegrelo region. The Railway between Sokhumi and Russia?s Black Sea resort of Sochi is currently in operation.

Vice-Premier of breakaway Abkhazia Leonid Lakerbaia said that the Abkhaz side guarantees the security of the joint group, which will be in charge of the assessment works, according to Apsnipress.

Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues Giorgi Khaindrava, who represented the Georgian side at talks in Sokhumi, said that no final decision has been made yet on reopening of the railway via Abkhazia.

?This will be a political decision? Currently we want to find out what kind of resources and what kind of work will be necessary,? Apsnipress reported quoting Khaindrava.

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)