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.