Opposition supporters gathered in front of the Abkhazia parliament building demanding to hold a session and vote against the ratification of the agreement with Russia on investment activities.
As citizens of the Abkhazian opposition report, “no one plans to disperse, there are more people” after the deputies postponed the session.
EADaily reported that the agenda of the session of the Parliament of Abkhazia was not approved, in which today, November 15, the issue of ratification of the investment agreement with Russia was to be considered. The deputies canceled the session.
President of Parliament Lasha Ashuba proposed voting in favor of postponing the session. The parliamentarians agreed with him. 21 deputies out of 35 are present in the meeting room, according to Ashub, this is due to the pressure to which the people’s representatives were under on the issue of ratification of the agreement between Abkhazia and Russia on investment activities.
According to the speaker of parliament, “some deputies refuse to work in such conditions.”
On November 11, the State Security Service of Abkhazia detained several opponents for an attack on one of the deputies of the republic’s parliament, who supported the ratification of an investment agreement with Russia. The detainees’ relatives and colleagues responded by trying to ram the doors of the State Security Service. The opposition also blocked bridges leading to Sukhum to traffic. As a result, as a result of negotiations between the opposition and the authorities, all detainees were released on November 12 and the roads were unblocked.
The Parliament of Abkhazia was due to consider today the ratification of the agreement signed on October 30, according to which Russian legal entities can implement their projects on Abkhazian territory. The investment threshold is 2 billion rubles, then the company is exempt from taxes in the republic for eight years.
According to some local publications, opponents detained on November 11 were preparing a coup d’état when parliament considered ratifying the agreement. The opposition fears that the agreement will lead to an “expansion of the oligarchy.” In his opinion, the document meets the interests of the former head of the Krasnodar region, businessman Alexandra Tkacheva and their companies, and small Abkhazian businesses will disappear.
president of abkhazia Aslan Bzhania I am sure that the crisis around the investment agreement is a “dirty political game”. He sees no concern for the well-being of the population, but only manipulation by those who oppose the ratification of the agreement. According to Bzhania, the protests are aimed at self-presentation of certain political forces. Opponents seek to create obstacles to the implementation of necessary projects and the strengthening of state institutions, the president considers.
The president expressed his discontent with the unacceptable political struggle and considered it more effective and useful to focus on solving the country’s real problems, with the support of Russia.
