THE MOSCOW-TBILISI RAILWAY LINE: THE ARMENIAN PERSPECTIVE AND THE ABKHAZ HURDLE
By M. Alkhazashvili
The Messenger, Georgia
April 27 2006
A quadripartite Russian-Georgian-Armenian-Abkhaz consortium will be
responsible for taking care of the restoration-rehabilitation work
that needs to be done on the Abkhaz section of the Tbilisi-Moscow
railway line. This project is estimated to cost between USD 150-250
million and it is up to the consortium members to find this money.
In December 2005 a Russian-Georgian intergovernmental economic
commission agreed to tackle this project.
Then the governments of the two countries ordered their railway
departments to create a joint Georgian-Russian consortium to oversee
the restoration of the Abkhaz railway. After this was done, the two
sides agreed to create an international consortium. Even as early
as December 2005 it was clear that both Armenia and Abkhazia would
become members of the consortium. The opening of this railway has a
vital importance for Armenia, which has closed borders with two of
its neighbors – Turkey and Azerbaijan. This rail link will finally
provide the country with a relatively efficient way to trade on a
large scale with its regional strategic partner, Russia.
The fact that Abkhazia is represented in the consortium as an
independent entity is an expression of Georgian goodwill. The
consortium’s quotas are distributed as follows: Russia – 50 percent;
Georgia – 30 percent, and Armenia and Abkhazia have 10 percent each,
the newspaper Khvalindeli Dghe reports.
The participation of Armenia and separatist Abkhazia in the consortium
was initially met with controversy in Georgian society, although
many observers strongly support the idea that the Abkhaz side is
represented in the consortium as a separate unit.
“This is very profitable for Georgia because Sukhumi will once again
see that the Georgian side is ready to consider their interests,”
explained Paata Zakareishvili, a conflict resolution specialist,
as quoted by the newspaper Khvalindeli Dghe.
The most problematic issue connected with the reopening of this
railway is that of customs control. The Abkhaz side is categorically
against the opening of a Georgian customs office in Psou on the
Abkhaz section of what Tbilisi considers to be the Georgian-Russian
border. At the same time the Georgian side is just as unbending and
has stated repeatedly that they will not compromise towards the issue.
“We will not discuss the border question – for us it is a closed
issue. We will continue to take part in tariff negotiations, and how
the revenues from this railway should be divided. As for the border,
negotiations surrounding this issue are ruled out. Psou is on the
Georgian-Russian border and that’s that,” declared Irakli Alasania,
presidential assistant for the resolution of the Abkhaz conflict,
the newspaper Khvalindeli Dghe reports.