Media Attention

I recently was interviewed by a journalist who reports on the Caucasus.  The article about me and development in Abkhazia is to appear in a prestigious American magazine.  Yesterday I received another interview request and it appears there is growing international interest from journalists as well as investors.

Inside Abkhazia, I was interviewed on national television.  The program drew enough attention that it was aired several times.  Abkhazians are very interested in the new "languages" of finance and development.  Much of this is new information to them, but they can see the value in learning and integrating. I am to be interviewed again when I return next week to Abkhazia.

What exactly does this mean?  It is intriguing on two fronts.  First, I am finding journalistic interest in Abkhazia's potential is high.  Second, Abkhazia and the Abkhaz are clearly interested in the possibilities of development and how risk is assessed, managed and what forms investment may take.  The leaderships knows it has tremendous natural assets to leverage for the economic growth that will lift the country from the poverty many needlessly suffer in.

Return to Sochi from Sukhum, December 3

I returned from Sukhum to Russia on Friday, December 3.  It takes between 1/12 and 2 hours to reach the border.  Fortunately, almost no one was at the border, so I quickly was over the bridge, through passport control and customs and on the Russian side.  

On the way from Sukhum to the border, I asked the taxi driver about the war in 1992-93 and if he had been in Abkhazia at the time.  He told me he had fought in the war, been wounded and evacuated to convalesce in a hospital for several months.  He also lost both his brother and father in the fighting.  In a country that lost about 4 % of its population in combat, almost no family was left untouched by tragedy.  

Despite this, Arsen was upbeat about the future in Abkhazia.  Like me, he believes that there are great changes coming to Abkhazia.  Like most Abkhaz, he is uncertain exactly what form it will take, but he believes that tourism is going to be the backbone of growth.  The day before in Sukhum, I explained at length to and accomplished local businessman about a contact I had with a well-known insurer of unusual risks.  I told him that if this firm would "rate" the political risk in Abkhazia and if the cost was economical, it would help draw investment capital at much lower cost.  Initially, he was unfamiliar because most Abkhaz have not been exposed to western capital market information.  However, he quickly grasped what this would mean.   Of course, this is not the only way forward and there are a lot of other scenarios for capital to enter the country. It is apparent that there are other investors who see what I see in Abkhazia.  I saw several foreign business groups and there are already Turkish entrepreneurs engaged in retail and restaurant businesses.  Tim Post, an American Krasnodar-based entrepreneur who has is becoming well-known in the Russian language internet and who developed BarCamp Krasnodar, toured Abkhazia with me the previous week.  Tim was very enthusiastic.  He said  "Abkhazia is what you get if Rancho Sante Fe "married" New Zealand."  and when talking about development possibilities Tim thought that Abkhazia "is analogous to discovering another Hawaii. If political events break favorably, this "middle earth" kingdom will be one of the most sought after in Europe."

When I got back across the border, I had to change my ticket for my return to the US at the airport before I went to the train station.  On the way, I was delayed by traffic due to Russian President Medvedev's arrival.  The Sochi/Adler Airport is an impressive and modern facility, by any standard.

I saw the new high speed rail connecting Sochi/Adler with Krasnaya Polayana, the site of the Alpine events.  I am often in the area, but even so I noticed a lot of progress since my last trip through in October.  Including event venues there ore than 200 new projects scheduled to be completed in time for 2014.  Watch for more information here on Sochi going forward.

National Library and Archives

Thursday evening I had dinner with Boris Cholaria and a cousin of his Yuri.  Boris is the director at the Abkhaz National Library and Archives, where Yuri assists.  I had a great time with both of them.  I heard a lot of interesting stories including that of a mutual relative who is said to have reached the age of 147 before his death in 1947.

The next day I met Boris and he and Yuri gave me a tour of the Library and Archives.  Before we entered the building Boris showed me the place where a Georgian tank had shot a hole in the wall.  I was also shown photographs of the pile of ash that resulted from the deliberate burning of irreplaceable books and documents by the Georgian Army during the 1992 -93 war.  Boris is directing the efforts at preserving and restoring the documents and books that remain.  It was difficult to see this sad consequence of the war and the opposition's efforts to forever destroy a nationality's cultural heritage.

The library is in need of funds to repair the building which was badly damaged by fire and water damage.  They are also fighting a battle against time to catalog, restore and preserve what remains.   This is a story that deserves attention in the west.  There are a lot of people working hard to rebuild Abkhazia and its future, but few are doing more important work than Boris and Yuri and in absolute anonymity.  They are doing this out of a love of books and their unique culture.

Interviewed in Abkhazia

Tblisi-based American journalist Haley Sweetland Edwards traveled to Abkhazia last week to interview me.  We spent Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday talking about Abkhazia and its development opportunities.  During a previous trip in August, Ms. Edwards saw  the scenic beauty and climate that draw large numbers of Russian tourists to Abkhazia.   I showed her projects that are beginning to attract interest from outside investors.  A western infrastructure group is interested in hydroelectric power and the renovation of the port for shipping and to attract cruise ships.  I told her that there is strong interest in the development of an airline to utilize Sukhum's runway, which is the longest in the Caucasus. This runway can accommodate the biggest jets, which nearby Sochi can not.  One western expert on airline formation told me that Sukhum's location and the length of the runway make it ideal as a hub in a system for flights not only to and from Russia, but also Central Asia, the Middle East and eventually Western Europe and the United States.  The terminal has recently been remodeled:

On Wednesday and Thursday we looked at some of the projects that are currently being developed in Abkhazia. I showed her several new hotels recently constructed or rebuilt in Gagra and the new mixed use building in Sukhum that the Moscow city government has nearly completed.  I also took her to Pitsunda where we looked at the Soviet-era Pitsunda Resort.  Pitsunda Resort has a great location and is well-known by Russian tourists. However, the aged Soviet-era buildings are not attractive and are not to the standard that one of the most attractive locations on the entire Black Sea deserves.  I told Haley this large project should be a primary target for development.

Lincoln MItchell and Alexander Cooley's Memorandum to Secretary Clinton

Lincoln MItchell and Alexander Cooley wrote to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on May 1.2010.  They advised a revision in American policy towards Abkhazia.  In their view the U.S. and the European Union have failed to develop a realistic policy with regards to Abkhazia. They rightly point out that Abkhazia is "almost certainly lost to Georgia, possibly for decades".  If America and the West is concerned about Abkhazia being driven into Russia's embrace, letting Georgia determine policy is hardly going to slow the progress in their view.  They feel that Abkhazia is left with no option for economic development and security but with Russia.  Of course, this is true.  Mitchell and Cooley believe that the best policy is a policy of "engagement without recognition" on a political level.  They recommend this along with encouraging Abkhazia's development of other economic links in the Black Sea Region and the development of its coastline.  Finally someone with stature is taking on the status quo and recommending that the U.S. government follow a policy that is in someone's interest besides 

There are points in the memorandum that I disagree with and also some inaccuracies.  It is stated that Abkhazia's statehood is based upon an act of ethnic cleansing.  But, in reality, Abkhaz statehood is based upon a desire for self-determination, not unlike Kosovo and its long history.  The authors fail to make mention of the acts of genocide and cultural desecration against Abkhaz ethnics.  And they say nothing of the approximately 52,000 ethnic Georgians who have returned to Abkhazia or Georgia's harassment as traitors of those who have.  I refer to the Fact Sheet on Abkhazia's Refugee Program.

Cooley and MItchell do not directly address the idea of Abkhazia's sovereignty.  Their letter assumes that Abkhazia ultimately should "belong" to Georgia.  They understand that this is not reality and may never be. So they advocate a change of policy.  I agree with the direction of the proposed policy change.  But why not take a look at the case for Abkhazia's statehood?  They offer no rationale for why Abkhazia should not be independent....

Finally they feel that Abkhazia will eventually be absorbed by Russia if left on its own.  I disagree wholeheartedly with this.  Abkhazia is charting its own course.  That is clear to any observer who spends time there.

Despite the problems with the memorandum, I think is is a good sign when influential foreign policy thinkers advocate a change of American policy in the Caucasus.  Their conclusions are logical.  How can problems be resolved without political engagement?   Abkhazia should be encouraged to develop economically,too.   Economic stability and international political contacts are in the best interests of the people and the best guarantor of peace and stability in the region.  I hope that the both the U.S. government and the E.U, adopt the policy.  It would be a great step.