Russian Deputy Foreign Minister on Lifting Abkhaz Sanctions

Russia’s withdrawal from 1996 CIS treaty imposing sanctions on Abkhazia, unties Moscow’s hands to provide “large-scale social-economic assistance to the Abkhaz people,” Grigory Karasin, the Russian deputy foreign minister, said in an interview with Russian weekly magazine Ogoniok.

“We expect growth in trade turnover and strengthened cooperation in cultural, educational and scientific spheres,” Karasin said in the interview published on March 17.

He strongly denied that Russia’s withdrawal from the treaty would result in arms transfers to breakaway Abkhazia. “In this regard we strictly adhere to international rules,” Karasin said.

Along with an economic embargo, the 1996 CIS treaty also bans arms trading with Abkhazia. The Georgian authorities say that by withdrawing from the treaty, Russia considers itself no longer bound by the obligation not to sell and supply weapons to the separatists.

Karasin said that in February the Russian side had notified Tbilisi of its intention to lift sanction on Abkhazia. “There was no clear reaction from Tbilisi about it,” he added. The Georgian side, however, has claimed that it was not notified in advance.

He also made it clear that Russia would place no restrictions on Russian companies from engaging in Abkhazia for the preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.

“As far as I know [the Russian state-run] OlympStroy Corporation and some other private companies are engaged in the creation of infrastructure for the Olympic Games in Sochi. It is their free choice and the market economy that will determine whom they cooperate with,” Karasin said.

He pointed out that Russia, in parallel with the lifting of sanctions on Abkhazia, was lifting some economic “restrictions” from Georgia itself as well, in particular on direct flights, entry visas for Georgian citizens and postal communication. Karasin failed, however, to mention the ongoing embargo on the import of Georgian wine and other products.