Tbilisi Treads Cautiously in Abkhaz Railway Talks

Georgia has not yet given its go-ahead to reopening the Russo-Georgian railway connection via breakaway Abkhazia, Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues Goga Khaindrava said at a news conference on July 20.

He said that ?no political decision? about the resumption of the Abkhaz railway has been given and Tbilisi is only participating in talks which aim at finding out what will be required for rehabilitation works.

The Georgian, Abkhaz, and Russian side agreed in the Abkhaz capital Sokhumi on July 19 to set up a joint 41-member team of experts to assess the current condition of the railway in Abkhazia. 14 Georgian experts, together with their Russian and Abkhaz counterparts, are expected to start assessment works on August 9 and to present a report by October 1.

In an interview with the Georgian daily Rezonansi, published on July 20, Chairman of Tbilisi-based Abkhaz government-in-exile Irakli Alasania said that the Georgian side will have several political proposals, which Tbilisi plans to put forward in exchange for consent to reopen the railway. However, Alasania refrained from specifying these proposals.

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