Opposition Activist Alleges Abkhaz Link in Georgia’s Privatization

Leader of the newly set up opposition movement Go Forward Georgia (Tsin Sakartvelo) Irakli Batiashvili accused the Georgian government, on January 31, of neglecting the country’s national interests in the privatization policy.

In particular, he alleged that the Russian company EvrAzHolding, which purchased the Chiatura manganese factory in western Georgia, “might be financing Abkhazia’s current leadership.”

He said that ethnic Abkhazian Otar Arshba, who is a member of the Russian Parliament, is also a leading figure in the EvrAzHolding company. “This persons is a very close ally of [Sergey] Bagapsh [the President-elect of breakaway Abkhazia],” Irakli Batiashvili, who is a former parliamentarian, said.

According to the EvrAzHolding official web-site, Otar Arshba was the Vice-President of the company before he was elected to the lower house of the Russian Parliament in 2003. Currently he chairs EvrAzHolding’s advisory council for social issues. Otar Arshba served in the Russian Federal Security Service before 1994, according to the EvrAzHolding web-site.

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