Kremlin Suspends Funding of Occupied Abkhazia

During the press-conference on September 3, the de-facto foreign minister of the Russia-occupied Abkhazia, Sergei Shamba confirmed that Russia had suspended funding for Abkhazia as of September 1. “On September 1, social funding was stopped, which affects doctors, teachers, law enforcement, and so on. These are the first steps,” he said, adding that Abkhazia will also have to pay for electricity at commercial rates.

Russia’s move comes in the wake of tensions, following the massive public discontent in the occupied territory caused by the now withdrawn “Apartment Law,” which provided for the construction and facilitation of the purchase of thousands of apartments by non-residents in the eastern part of the occupied region. Russians would have been the main beneficiaries of the “legislation.”

“It is absolutely clear that a lot of discontent has accumulated in our allies [Russia] recently. The relationships have changed significantly. It’s not what it used to be at the beginning. I remember when I was the minister of foreign affairs, during the recognition of Abkhazia, what the attitude in the Russian society was like,” Shamba complained, adding that “that attitude no longer exists.”

“Let’s all work together to address this—through the media, social networks, and everywhere—to correct this attitude. I hear from many Russian figures that there is a lot of negativity in Abkhaz social networks regarding the relationship between Russia and Abkhazia, with attacks on the [Russian] Ambassador and various such issues,” Shamba lamented. He then called to “work together” to improve relations “with our strategic ally” instead of worsening them.

A few days earlier, a document titled “Protocol of the meeting between Dmitry Kozak, Deputy Head of the Russian Presidential Administration, and Aslan Bzhania, President of Abkhazia” surfaced on the Abkhazian social media. The document instructs Russian government agencies to take measures to force the occupied region to “fulfill its obligations” vis-a vis Moscow, threatening with cuts in funding and depriving Abkhaz so-called members of Parliament and “opposition members”, who oppose the “apartment law” of the Russian citizenship and who act “to the detriment of the interests of the Russian Federation and the development of Russian-Abkhaz relations”.

The document alludes that Bzhania promised Moscow to provide information about the mentioned de-facto MPs by September 20.

Shamba did not give definitively confirm the authenticity of the document citing that Sokhumi “has not officially received it”. He said: “We cannot verify it as an authentic document, although the issues raised in it were repeatedly discussed at various meetings, including at the meeting between the President of Abkhazia and the Administration of the President of Russia. It was mentioned that failure to fulfill our obligations could lead to certain sanctions,” Shamba said.

Also Read:

• 30/08/2024 – Russia Threatens Occupied Abkhazia with Funding Cuts and Citizenship Revocation, Demands “Fulfillment of Obligations”
• 15/08/2024 – Russian Deputy Minister for Economic Development: “Harmonization of Legislation” Between Moscow and Occupied Abkhazia “Mostly Complete”

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