Geneva, The Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon presented on Monday to the Security Council the report on the situation in the Caucasian region. For the first time the name of the document does not contain indication that Abkhazia belongs to Georgia, ITAR-TASS reports.

A source in the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations confirmed the fact of reception of the "Report of the Secretary General prepared pursuant to resolutions 1808, 1839 and 1866 of the Security Council"."Pay attention to the fact that the name of the document differs essentially from the previous February report of the Secretary General of the United Nations which was called "Report of the Secretary General on the situation in Abkhazia, Georgia, prepared pursuant to resolution 1839 of the Security council", the diplomat said. Now the Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations does not comment on the content of the report "since we are analysing its theses", he added.

We want to remind that absence of the report became the reason to suspend the Geneva consultations on the situation on the Caucasus. The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia Sergey Shamba, in particular, declared that his country would not participate in the fifth round of consultations on the situation on the Caucasus until the report of the Secretary General of the United Nations appeared. Moreover, according to him, "participation of Abkhazia in the fifth round of discussions depends also on how much the new report of the Secretary General of the United Nations will reflect the existing reality".

The head of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov  also announced Monday May 18 suspension of Russian participation in the consultations. At that he remarked that absence of the report is "non-observance of primary conditions which should have provided timely work of the current round of consultations". "That's why the Russian delegation offered (at the consultations) to take a break till Tuesday (May 19) taking into account that, as U.N. colleagues promise us, at night the report of the Secretary General of the United Nations on the further activity of the observers in Georgia and Abkhazia should appear", Lavrov said. Report's consideration by the Security Council of the United Nations is scheduled for May 27.

19.05.2009  Official Site of the President of Abkhazia

Geneva, “The report of the Secretary General of the United Nations in English has been received in Sukhum, time to translate it into Russian is required. However I have already familiarised myself with the English text and saw that all the wordings the Abkhaz party had disputed had been removed", the Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergey Shamba stated. According to him, “now there is no obstacle for Abkhazia to participate in the Geneva discussions on security on the Caucasus”.

“Every participant of the Geneva discussions is present there personally. And if during the consultations the decision to participate in the discussions is taken our representatives who are now in Geneva, will take in part in them. They are Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Maxim Gunjia, a deputy of the Parliament Soner Gogua and a member of the executive committee of the International Association of the Abkhaz-Abasin People Zeki Kapba.

The President's advisor for the international affairs Vyacheslav Chirikba after the report of the Secretary General has not appeared on May 16, returned from Moscow to Sukhum and is now here”, Shamba remarked.

According to him, yesterday May 18, in connection with absence of the Abkhaz party and refusal to participate from the South Ossetian one, the Russian side offered to postpone the discussions for one day and to wait for the report of the Secretary General of the United Nations.

19.05.2009  Official Site of the President of Abkhazia

Moscow, Abkhazia has withdrawn from the fifth round of talks in Geneva planned for May 18-19, Abkhaz Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba said on Saturday.

The Geneva talks, which are supported by the UN, EU and OSCE, and involve Georgia, Russia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia are aimed at trying to reduce tension in the conflict zone, following a short war between Russia and Georgia, which launched an offensive on its former republic of South Ossetia last August.

Shamba cited delays in receiving the UN annual report on the region as a reason for pulling out of the talks.

"We agreed that on May 15 when the report was published we would receive a copy, but we have not received one yet. Now they say May 18, the day of the talks. However, considering the time difference, it will be after the talks have been held by the time we get the report," Shamba said.

"We consider this as clearly underhand. Therefore the Abkhaz delegation will not travel to Geneva for the next round of talks," he said.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said that at the upcoming talks Moscow would be seeking a "non-use of force guarantee" from Tbilisi "in relation to their neighbors in the region."

"First of all a legal binding ceasefire agreement needs to be signed between Georgia and South Ossetia, and also Georgia and Abkhazia," a Foreign Ministry statement read.

Following the conflict, Russia recognized both republics Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states.

Russia and the two republics signed border protection agreements at the end of April. Russian border guards have been deployed along the Abkhazia and South Ossetian borders since May 2.

The border deal came at a time of increased tensions between Moscow and NATO, after the alliance went ahead with military exercises in the region and two Russian NATO envoys were expelled over spying claims.

Russian border guards discovered a large arms cache, containing over 50 antitank mines and over 100 kg of TNT, which overall were equivalent to 500 kg of TNT, in the Kodor Gorge area near the Georgian-Abkhaz border, the first head of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) border department in Abkhazia told journalists on Saturday.

Col. Dmitry Korolyov described the find as a "significant result" and said the hideout was discovered on May 13, but gave no information on any possible owners of the cache.

05.16.2009  RIA Novosti

Moscow, The German Embassy in Moscow has issued a visa to a seriously ill Abkhazian teenager who has to undergo an urgent medical procedure in a German clinic, a spokesman said on Friday.

The German Embassy in Moscow had earlier denied a visa to the 16-year-old, whose name has not been disclosed.

"Yesterday [Thursday] the teenager's family submitted an application for a visa and received one immediately," the embassy spokesman said. "There were no problems."

He said diplomats had to coordinate with their colleagues in Tbilisi, who as a rule issue visas to the residents of the former Georgian republic.

"The coordination needed to avoid any cheating," the spokesman said.

Russia recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states after the five-day war with Georgia, which attacked South Ossetia in an attempt to bring it back under central control. Most residents of both Abkhazia and South Ossetia had held Russian citizenship for several years.

Nicaragua is the only other country to have officially recognized the republics' independence.

05.15.2009  RIA Novosti

Sochi, Russia and Abkhazia will sign an agreement on the deployment of a Russian military base in the former Georgian republic within the next two weeks, the Abkhaz president said on Thursday.

"The land has been allocated, a location identified, and work has started there. We are awaiting an agreement between the republic and the Russian Defense Ministry," Sergei Bagapsh told journalists after a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

"It [the agreement] is almost ready. I think it will be signed in a week or two," he said.

The Abkhaz president earlier said Russia would have a total of 3,800 troops deployed in the republic for the next 49 years.

Bagapsh also said units of Russian border guards will be deployed on Abkhazia's state border by the beginning of June.

"One more group of border guards will arrive by that time. By the beginning of June we plan to finish this process. Russian border guards will assume duty jointly with Abkhaz border guards," he said.

Russia signed in late April joint border protection agreements with the former Georgian republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Under the agreements, Russia will guard the Abkhaz and South Ossetian borders, including maritime frontiers, until both republics form their own border guard services. The agreements, for an initial period of five years, can be renewed upon their expiration.

Bagapsh ruled out the possibility of asking Moscow in the near future to become part of Russia.

"Why would we approach Russia with such a request so soon when Russia only recently recognized us as an independent state?" he said in reply to a reporter's question.

Russia recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states on August 26 last year after a five-day war with Georgia, which attacked South Ossetia to try to regain control of the province, which had been de facto independent since the early 1990s.

05.14.2009  RIA Novosti

Moscow, Russia will continue to assist South Ossetia in all areas, including military assistance if required, the chief of the Russian presidential administration said Thursday.

"Russia has provided and will provide South Ossetia with all necessary economic, political, and, if necessary, military assistance," Sergei Naryshkin told Russia's Vesti TV channel.

Naryshkin said "the cynical aggression of the [Georgian President Mikheil] Saakashvili regime" had inflicted a great loss upon South Ossetia and Abkhazia, destroying the social and infrastructure.

"Of course, Russia could not have stayed detached. It aided, maybe even saved South Ossetia and the South Ossetian nation from annihilation," the chief of the Kremlin administration said.

"The nation had no other choice but to declare its independence and Russia of course recognized the independence of South Ossetia," Naryshkin said.

Russia recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states after last August's five-day war with Georgia, which launched a military offensive on South Ossetia in an attempt to bring it back under central control.

President Dmitry Medvedev said that the move was "the only way to protect people's lives." Western powers called the decision unacceptable.

The republics split from Georgia in bloody post-Soviet conflicts, and their residents have been Russian passport holders for many years.

05.14.2009  RIA Novosti

Sochi, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will meet with Abkhazian President Sergei Bagapsh in Sochi on Thursday to discuss the presence of Russian troops in Abkhazia, the prime minister’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters on Thursday.

They will also focus on the situation in the Caucasus, which is aggravated by NATO’s on-going exercises, he said.

Peskov added that many issues could top the talks’ agenda. First of all, this is linked with the signing of the border protection treaty with Abkhazia, under which Russian border guards have already begun their service.

“This stipulates the need for more active economic cooperation between Russia and Abkhazia, the construction of necessary infrastructure and facilities,” he said.

Moreover, there are many other projects, in particular the construction of a road that will run along the coast from Sochi.

“The agenda of the talks is very intensive,” Peskov said.

05.14.2009  RIA Novosti

Sukhum, The German embassy in Russia has denied a visa to a 16-year-old youth from Abkhazia who was to have undergone a complicated operation in a Munich clinic, Abkhazia's foreign minister said Wednesday.

Sergei Shamba said the denial was because residents of the former Georgian republic "apparently have to get visas in the German consulate in Tbilisi."

Speaking at a meeting with representatives of the UN human rights commissioner, Shamba also said that, "Such actions are out of line with universal humanitarian principles and are a direct violation of Abkhazian residents' rights."

The German embassy is yet to comment.

Russia recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia after last August's five-day war with Georgia, which attacked South Ossetia in an attempt to bring it back under central control. Most residents of both Abkhazia and South Ossetia had held Russian citizenship for several years before the war.

Russia's decision to recognize the republics was condemned by the United States and the EU. Nicaragua has so far been the only other country to recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

05.13.2009  RIA Novosti

 Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation's "Peace, Security and Role of de facto States" conference held in Bruxelles

On April 30 in Bruxelles the European Parliament played host for the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization' (UNPO) conference "Peace, security and the role of de facto states", the representative for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia in Germany Khibla Amichba reported.

Representatives of different states participated in the discussion dedicated to the problems and tendencies of development of the contemporary world community and de facto states.

The Republic of Abkhazia was represented by a member of the International Association of Abkhaz-Abazin People' executive committee Zeki Kapba (Germany) and the participant of the European Association of Abkhaz-Abazin diaspora "Pro Abkhazia" Alaattin Kupalba (Holland).

Giving the report on "Prospects of peace in the Caucasus" Zeki Kapba dwelled in detail on the history of conflicts in the Caucasus, mutual relations of Abkhazia and the Western countries, prospects of peaceful development of the young state.

The participants of the conference mentioned information deficiency about de facto states' problems, in particular, about Abkhazia. Zeki Kapba answered these remarks: "During the 1992-1993 war and the first post-war years the information was constantly arriving. Later the world community was extremely little interested in our problems; they were actually forgotten up to the intrusion of Georgia into South Ossetia in August 2008".

Organizers and participants of the conference touched time and again upon the problems of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

"Two years ago President Saakashvili spoke in the European Parliament and declared the Georgia's desire to join EU. If we properly listened to his words, we would probably manage to feel nationalistic tone of his speech. But we, unfortunately, didn't catch it. Probably, we could manage to prevent the events that followed", a member of the European Parliament Marco Cappato said.

The General Secretary of the UNPO Marino Busdachin declared that Abkhazia was much more a democratic and "transparent" state than Georgia.

"The information about de facto states has especially awaken our interest. We have learnt a lot of new thing about Abkhazia", madam Gyari a member of the Government of Tibet in Exile said. She expressed support to de facto states and called them to solidarity.

06.05.2009  Official Site of the President of Abkhazia

According to the order of the Defense Minister, it would last till June 30, the military commissioner of the Republic Vakhtang Tsugba told the Abkhaz TV. As he said, May 5 was the first day of the draft which “has passed in an organized way" thanks to the fact that military commissariats with an active help from the heads of administrations had done a lot of work at the local level.

As the commissioner said, there were few people obviously evading military service. "The problem is different: today more than 60 % of our resource is the young men studying in high education establishments. Under our laws, a wide category of recruits has the right for a deferment and, first of all, those who study in the state educational establishments", Tsugba said.

According to him, clause 20 of the law "About universal military service" provides draft deferment for the persons who served in another state's army, and also convicted of grave crimes.

Among those who have the right for a deferment, the persons ineligible for military service due to the state of health; the persons taking care of a family member, requiring aid in the absence of other persons; members of the Parliament; rural teachers (having higher education) and the doctors practicing constantly in the countryside. If in the family of a recruit the mother raises without a husband two more or more children the recruit has the right for a deferment till his younger brothers and sisters accomplish 16.

As the military commissioner reported, the graduates from the Abkhaz State University where there is a military chair serve after graduating from the University as sergeants for one year. Those who do not attend the military chair, serve as privates for a year and a half. Students of commercial and non-state high education establishments have no right for a deferment, they serve for a year and a half.

Speaking about the problem of draft of inhabitants of frontier Gal district, Vakhtang Tsugba regretfully remarked that "some international organizations, following the tastes of the contiguous state, declare a violent draft of Gallers to the Abkhaz army what does not represent the facts".

"Draft of Gallers to the Abkhaz army is a painful matter. To the persons evading service in the army in other districts of Abkhazia, we apply more strict measures than to Gallers. The point is that in Gal district there are representatives of the youth, wishing to serve in the army, but they are afraid since afterwards the authorities of Georgia accuse them of treachery. In November we drafted 10 persons, but the potential is wide", Tsugba said.

"There is other category of the persons, wishing to serve neither in the Abkhaz army, nor in the Georgian one. When we draft to our army, the bigger part of them comes over to the Georgian side when the draft is there they come back to our side. I.e. they evade service both in Georgia and in Abkhazia. We do not draft anybody by force, and we will not”, the military commissioner of the Republic declared.

As to other districts of Abkhazia, according to the Criminal Code of Abkhazia, responsibility of citizens for evading military service is provided. “Persons, who do not present themselves by call-up papers of the military commissioner at the appointed time, can be punished by a fine from 30 to 60 thousand rubles, or by imprisonment from one to three years. The punishment is more severe during mobilization at wartime from 5 to 10 years. It is considered a grave crime”, Tsugba remarked.

According to him, the service in the army of Abkhazia is a duty of honor for every citizen. “It is not a favor to the president, military commissioner or to someone else. It is a duty!” the military commissioner of the Republic Vakhtang Tsugba declared.

06.05.2009  Official Site of the President of Abkhazia

The Moscow Fund for education development support has donated 100 new PCs to schools of Abkhazia, Minister for Education Indira Vardaniya reported.

«It is the first large consignment of office equipment donated to the Abkhaz schools. We hope for further cooperation with the fund specializing in support of educational projects", Vardaniya said.

06.05.2009  Official Site of the President of Abkhazia

In Gagra an international "Sea in Gagra" tennis tournament will be held from May 18 till May 25, the president of Federation of tennis of Abkhazia Tamaz Abgajava reported.

The competition is held among young men and girls in 3 age categories. Tennis players from Abkhazia, Russia and the CIS countries will take part in the tournament.

"The tournament takes on special significance since professional tennis players will participate", Abgajava underlined.

The winners and prize-winners of the competition will be awarded with cups, medals, diplomas and prizes.

'The main thing is that they will have a possibility to get points which will count for their rating", Abgajava said.

06.05.2009  Official Site of the President of Abkhazia

 Lukashenko declared he does not link the settlement of the question with South Ossetia and Abkhazia with the viewpoint of Russia

The President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko declared that he did not link the settlement of the question with South Ossetia and Abkhazia with the viewpoint of Russia. “Russia is not the point. We have good relations with these republics", the president said in interview to Reuters agency.

At that he informed that this issue was being discussed then in the Parliament. "This question is being calmly, business-like discussed where it should be discussed. There is no unity there, to put it mildly. The deputies have different points of view. And we calmly think that in the near future we will try to somehow bring together these points of view", Lukashenko said in interview to Reuters agency.

According to him, "if it is "no" we will frankly tell the people, our society that the Parliament’s opinion is such. If it is "yes" we too will tell the people about it". "But the truth is that I under the Constitution as the President will have to settle this question. I would like to settle it causing no negative reaction from our people, so that people would perceive the actions of the authorities including mine, as reasonable, considered and weighed", the President declared.

05.05.2009  Official Site of the President of Abkhazia

 Recital of Sofia Narmaniya a post-graduate student of the Moscow state conservatory named after P. I. Tchaikovsky will take place in Moscow

On May 8 in Moscow in the Concert Hall on Kislovka a recital of Sofia Narmaniya a post-graduate student of the Moscow state conservatory named after P. I. Tchaikovsky will take place, a representative of the Abkhaz Diaspora, the curator of the Abkhaz school in Moscow Esma Hagba reported.

05.05.2009  Official Site of the President of Abkhazia

 Work of the II International congress of students of the Republic of Abkhazia and the Nizhniy Novgorod region “Interdialog: APSNY.SU” has begun

In Pitsunda the work of the II International congress of students of the Republic of Abkhazia and the Nizhniy Novgorod region “Interdialog: APSNY.SU” has begun. The participants of the congress were welcomed by the Vice Prime Minister of the Government Alexander Stranichkin, the rector of the Abkhaz State University Aleko Gvaramiya and the rector of the Nizhniy Novgorod State Technical University Vladimir Kalinin.
 

Over a hundred of students from the Abkhaz State University, the Sukhum Open Institute and eight high education establishments of Nizhny Novgorod participate in the congress.
 

The subject of the congress is “Intercultural interactions and problems of preservation of national identity under conditions of globalization”.
 

The organizers of the congress are the government of the Nizhniy Novgorod region, the government of Abkhazia and the Council of rectors of the Nizhniy Novgorod region, the editor of the “Abkhaz University” newspaper Batal Shulumba told Apsnypress.
 

Let's remind that in September, 2007 in Sukhum a protocol on trade and economic, scientific and technical and cultural cooperation between the Nizhniy Novgorod region and the Republic of Abkhazia was signed.
 

The congress will finish work Friday, May 8.

05.05.2009  Official Site of the President of Abkhazia

The President of the Republic of Abkhazia Sergey Bagapsh underlined that the appointment and the forthcoming arrival to the duty station of the new head of the Frontier department had taken place following the signed in April at top-level Russian-Abkhaz Agreement on cooperation in the sphere of borders protection. “Major-General Zvirik has wide organizational experience, and we are sure of the positive results of his work on the new duty station”, the Head of the state said.
 

The members of the Security Council discussed issues of organization of joint Abkhaz-Russian protection of the State borders in different directions.
 

At the meeting the criminogenic situation in the republic was considered, in particular, the situation with road accidents. The members of the Security Council remarked that the number of road accident with deceases became threatening. As the President remarked, toughening measures of administrative and criminal influence on road laws breakers would not lead to necessary results without the complex approach to the settlement of the existing problem.
 

Sergey Bagapsh underlined that everybody was equally responsible for the current situation both the authorities and the society. It is necessary for everybody to as far as possible put obstacles in the way of road laws breakers. First of all, it concerns the drivers driving a vehicle in the state of intoxication, people passing illegally control to minors.
 

The participants of the meeting came up with the idea to provide for criminal prosecution for those who irresponsibly let minors drive vehicles.  
 

It was remarked that in the republic there are a lot of driving schools what is not necessary. At the same time the control over these driving schools is not carried out.
 

Taking into account the stated opinions it was decided to develop shortly together with the Parliament of the Republic of Abkhazia a package on prevention of road accidents in the republic.

05.05.2009  Official Site of the President of Abkhazia

Friday May 1 the Defense Minister of Abkhazia Merab Kishmariya made an inspection trip to the upper part of Kodor gorge liberated in August the previous year from the Georgian military troops. According to the Abkhaz TV, General Kishmariya visited posts of military units and met commanding officers. It was found out that the military men were provided with all the necessary things including foodstuff, uniform, armament and ammunition to perform duties in highlands, good relations between natives and military men were being established.  
 

Several villages in the upper part of the gorge inhabited with Svans (ethnic Georgians) are located near the northeast borders with Abkhazia and Georgia, that’s why the country leaders pay special attention to the issues of providing security of the local population and state border protection. There on permanent basis units of defense ministries of Abkhazia and Russia as well as representatives of the Ministry for Internal Affairs and Special Services of the Republic are quartered.
 

The security issues at the border become more urgent since after snow has thawed small paths through mountain passes will be open.

According to the Abkhaz TV, soldiers of the Abkhaz army together with the local authorities help the natives solve problems.
 

Besides the front-line units, there is also an aircraft station in the gorge, which provides permanent air communication with “Sukhum” airport, and at any time fighting and rescue planes can take off. For more integrated control over the situation along the only motorway connecting the gorge with the centre of Abkhazia additional checkpoints have been posted.

05.05.2009  Official Site of the President of Abkhazia

The fourth day the Abkhaz and Russian frontier guards protect conjointly the Georgian-Abkhaz border, the chief of the frontier detachment of the RA State Security Service Zurab Marganiya reported.
 

“Along the entire perimeter of the border joint frontier posts were posted, there are detained trespassers of the state border from the Georgian side”, Marganiya said. However he did not specify the number of the posts and the number of people detained.

05.05.2009  Official Site of the President of Abkhazia

Sukhum, Abkhazia’s participation in the 5th round of the Geneva consultations will depend on what the UN Secretary-General says in his report, and to what extent it reflects the realities,” Abkhazia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba said at a meeting with the co-presidents of the Geneva discussions on security in the Caucasus on Monday.

The EU special representatives – Pierre Morel, of the European Union, Johan Verbeke, of the United Nations, and Charapalmpos Christopoulos, of the OSCE, arrived in Abkhazia earlier on Monday on a one-day visit within the framework of preparations for the fifth round of discussions, scheduled for May 18-19.

Abkhazia insists Ban Ki-Moon’s report should contain no such terms as the “UN Observer Mission in Georgia”, or the term “Abkhazia, Georgia”.

“Our participation in the Geneva discussions will depend on the approach the United Nations takes. If it accommodates the changed situation and comes closer to the understanding of the reality, then our participation in the discussion will continue. The first sign will be in sight when the UN Secretary-General makes a report on May 15. If it meets our requests, we shall participate in the discussions,” Shamba said.

After the meeting Shamba told the media that Abkhazia saw the very instance of the Geneva discussions as a very positive factor.

“In any case, participation in diplomatic discussions in the international scene is a token of our recognition in itself. The degree to which we can demonstrate our professionalism and our wide vision of the problem, as well as the skill to negotiate and reach accord will be crucial to how the Abkhazian diplomacy and our foreign policy are rated. We understand this as a factor of international recognition, and for that reason we are interested in the participation in the Geneva process. But we shall not seek it at any cost. We have certain conditions that we have set. We have been strengthening our positions step by step,” Shamba said.

In his opinion “Abkhazia’s attitude will have to be taken into account, because otherwise the entire negotiating process and international presence in Abkhazia will be in jeopardy.”

For his part the EU’s special envoy for crisis affairs in Georgia, Pierre Morel, said he would do his utmost to ensure the fifth round of discussions proceed with all parties taking part in it.

05.04.2009  Itar-Tass

Since May 6, 2009 in the series “Prominent people of Abkhazia” the Bank of Abkhazia issues a silver coin dedicated to Fazil Iskander’s 80th anniversary. The circulation of the coin is 1000 pieces.
 

"Fazil Iskander" silver coin with face value of 10 apsars (weight of the precious metal in purity is 31,1gr, standard of the alloy is 925, catalogue number is 0110010-002) of the series "Prominent people of Abkhazia" has the form of a circle of 39mm in diameter.
 

On the face and the back of the coin over the circuit there is a protruding edging.
 

On the face of the coin in the upper central part on the mirror surface there is the relief image of the State Emblem of the Republic of Abkhazia, under it a legend in the Abkhaz language “Apsny Abank”; over the Emblem legends in semicircle indicating the face value of the coin (10 apsars); along the edging in the left part of the coin the indication of the metal according to the Periodic system of chemical elements by D. I. Mendeleyev, in the right part  there is the standard of the alloy and the logo of the mint. In the bottom part of the coin on the matt surface with relief legends "Apsny Abank" in small print in five lines the year of coining “2009” is indicated.
 

On the back there is a composition divided vertically by the legend "Fazil Iskander" for two equal parts.
 

On the right side Fazil Iskander's profile is depicted, on left side the contour of mountain tops and seacoast, a tree and a vine twisted with each other. To the right on the matt surface over the circuit there is the legend in the Abkhaz language "80 years".
 

The lateral surface of the coin is corrugated. The coin is made by “proof-like” quality.
 

The artist is Batal Dzhapua.
 

The coin is a means of payment of the Republic of Abkhazia at its face value having stable equivalent in Russian rubles, 1 apsar is equal to 10 rubles of the Russian Federation.

05.01.2009  Official Site of the President of Abkhazia

 Andrey Nesterenko - Russian agreements with South Ossetia and Abkhazia on joint efforts in state borders protection must increase security and stability in the region

The official representative for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Russia Andrey Nesterenko commented on the speech of the official representative of the NATO with regard to the agreements between Russia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia on joint efforts in borders protection.
 

“Moscow paid attention to the speech of the official representative of the NATO with regard to the fact that the agreements on joint efforts in protection of borders of South Ossetia and Abkhazia signed today allegedly violate certain agreements on an armistice. Such a statement is astonishing since Russia has not signed any agreements on an armistice with anybody in this region” Nesterenko remarked.  
 

“Throughout all last years we have consistently insisted on signing legally binding agreements between Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia on force non-use. However the current Georgian leaders unleashed an aggression against South Ossetia in August 2008 instead which had to be repulsed by the Russian Armed Forces”.
 

“The only arrangement we observe is the Medvedev - Sarkozy plan which, by the way, is not observed, first of all by Georgia itself, not wanting to withdraw the troops and equipment and throughout all last months increasing military presence in the zones immediately adjoining Abkhazia and South Ossetia”, Nesterenko declared.  
 

Moreover, despite obvious complexity of internal processes in Georgia and instability in the zones adjoining Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the NATO nevertheless plans to exercise in this rather unstable a region.
 

As far as the documents signed in Moscow with Abkhazia and South Ossetia on joint efforts in state borders protection are concerned they, according to Nesterenko, “must increase security and stability in the region. These arrangements cannot prevent from searching for an acceptable form of the international presence what is being made now".

05.01.2009  Official Site of the President of Abkhazia