Issues Points Interview
Featuring: Sergei Bagapsh, President of The Republic of Abkhazia
IP: Congratulations on your inauguration to a second term, Mr. President. What are your three major priorities for the Republic of Abkhazia?
Bagapsh: Today, now that security issues are not as acute as in the recent past, the priorities will be shifted to building a more stable, strong economy, as well as modernizing the Abkhaz economic system in general. We will pay particular attention to maintaining the progress we have made in the past five years in areas of social and education achievement. And, certainly, the need to seek the recognition of an increasing number of countries, including from the Western community, is clearly important to us... cont.
More Issues Points Interviews
Dr. Nicolai N. Petro, Professor of Political Science, University of Rhode Island, USA
Liana Kvarchelia, Deputy Director, Centre for Humanitarian Programmes
Nikolai Zlobin, Director of the Russia and Eurasia Project at the World Security Institute
Doug Bandow, Senior Fellow with the Cato Institute, Washington, D.C.
Welcome to
the REPUBLIC OF ABKHAZIA
For centuries, the Republic of Abkhazia, which is located at a strategic crossroads between Europe and Asia, has struggled to maintain its centuries-old culture and identity. Since the devastating 1992-93 war with Georgia, the Abkhaz government has worked hard to rebuild its economy and reach out to the world.
Miles of pristine Black Sea coastline and tree-covered mountains have made Abkhazia a favorite vacation spot for visitors from Russia and other neighboring countries. Our nation is known for its wines and unique cuisine.
This website contains information on visiting Abkhazia, as well as promising investment opportunities in trade, agriculture and manufacturing. If you know someone who might share your interest in Abkhazia, please invite them to visit www.therepublicofabkhazia.org
--Government of the Republic of Abkhazia
Restless Paradise on the Black Sea
There is an Abkhazian legend in which the Creator warns future settlers that calamities may befall those who possess such a gorgeous land.
According to the legend, God, while endowing different nations with their land, decided to leave the most beautiful nook for himself. The ancestor of the Abkhazian people was the only one to arrive late for his appointment. God, though angered, inquired about the cause of his being late, and the offender confessed that he couldn't leave the house because he was receiving a guest. As a reword for such hospitality God generously endowed the Abkhazian people with their land, but warned them that there would be many who would want to take the blessed land away, and hard times would be the destiny of their people.
Abkhazia, a subtropical paradise, was once so popular among the Soviet establishment that it was dubbed The Soviet Riviera. Fifteen kilometers from a city called Gagra, in a pine forest in the Gagra Ridge slope, stands one of Josef Stalin's five Abkhazian residencies: a dacha on the Cold River. Hidden among tall pines and fir-trees and painted green, it is almost invisible from the air, from the earth, and from the sea. Such conspiracy is a tribute to the Stalin's paranoia. There is only one way to get here, and that is by a mountain road that winds through the thick forest. It is interesting that Stalin would never say exactly which of the five Abkhazian dachas he was going to stay; so all five of them would be prepared for his stay... cont.
