In his lengthy interview with Russian radio stations of Sputnik, Komsomolskaya Pravda and Govorit Moskva on October 14, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that the issue of property rights of Russians and ethnic Georgians with Russian citizenship in Abkhazia is under his government’s “constant attention.”
“We are a little surprised that this problem remains unresolved,” Lavrov remarked, adding that “now that the turbulence in Abkhazia seems to have subsided, we will definitely return to this topic.”
The issue of property rights of the Russian citizens in Abkhazia has been one of the major stumbling points in the relations between Moscow and Sokhumi. Authorities in occupied Abkhazia have been repeatedly rejecting Moscow’s proposals to tackle property disputes of the Russian citizens in the region.
Many of the Abkhaz fear that such proposals could pave the way for the return of thousands of those Georgians, who fled Abkhazia after the armed conflict in the early 90s and who now reside in Russia, holding Russian passports.
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