Gazeta: "DUMA Speaker as Harbinger"
Following Boris Gryzlov, Vladimir Putin will visit Sukhumi.
The Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov visited Abkhazia for the first time since Russia recognized its independence, where he met with its President Sergei Bagapsh. The Speaker's visit was the first in a series of visits by other high-ranking Russians.
Earlier Prime Minister Vladimir Putin promised Sergei Bagapsh to visit the Republic this summer, as Mr Gryzlov recalled. "During the meeting between the President of Abkhazia and the Russian Prime Minister in Sochi which took place recently it was agreed that Vladimir Putin would visit the Republic of Abkhazia this summer. This is good news because during the visit specific issues will be discussed and solved, and many of the 26 sectoral agreements on which Russian and Abkhaz experts are working will be prepared in time for the meeting," Mr Gryzlov said in Sukhumi.
The Speaker took a walk through the streets of the Abkhaz capital and took part in a ceremony at Novy Afon to mark the return of the icon of St Panteleimon to the local monastery, where he had a chance to communicate with local people.
As the Foreign Minister of Abkhazia Sergei Shamba told our correspondent, the talk with the Moscow guest was very friendly and warm. "We are now looking forward to the Russian Prime Minister's visit to Sukhumi. So far only an agreement in principle has been reached. We will start preparing to meet Vladimir Putin as soon as the date is fixed," Mr Shamba said.
The Russian experts see Mr Putin's visit not only in practical terms, i.e. in connection with the economic agreements mentioned by Mr Gryzlov. The chief of the Ethnic Relations Department at the Political and Military Analysis Institute, Sergei Markedonov, says there are two main reasons for the visit. "The first is symbolic. Mr Putin wants to demonstrate that we have recognized the Republic in earnest and we will not backtrack. Therefore Russian officials of the highest level will be visiting Abkhazia," he is convinced. But there is another and more important reason, the expert believes. "Mr Putin has a favourite word which he started using during his first election campaign. The word is ‘inventory', or stock taking. The Prime Minister is going to do just that in the Republic. He would like to have first-hand knowledge of the security situation there and assess how attractive the Republic is economically. As distinct from strictly agrarian South Ossetia, Abkhazia is more developed economically and Russian business has long been active there. Before long more Russian businessmen, including those with close connections to the Government, will come to the Republic," the expert believes.
Khava Dachayeva; Artyom Kobzev
