In his words, currently the installation of the necessary hardware and equipment is being completed. The services will be provided by a specially established company employing local personnel.

"At this stage the sponsors of the project are waiting for a licence from the GosSviazNadzor (State Supervision Authority for Communications)", Mr. Kishmariya said.

According to the President's Plenipotentiary, the project costs will amount to $20,000. The project is financed from state funds.

The Gal district remains the only region of Abkhazia without Internet access. Recently, the country's Ochamchyra and Tkuarchal districts were successfully connected to the Internet. In Abkhazia, connecting to the Internet became possible in 2001.

Currently, there are four providers in the Republic. The users are mainly residents of Sukhumand Gagra. Increased competition influenced the tariff policy of the providers. Since 2001, the service prices have decreased more than threefold.

01.22.2007  Abkhaziagov.org

Sukhum, In 2007, foreign investment into the country's economy will steadily increase due to a number of new projects with foreign ownership. This was what Plenipotentiary of the Government of Abkhazia in the Russian Federation on Investment Policy Oleg Bartsits said in an interview to the Official Site of the President.

According to Oleg Bartsits, Abkhazia's becoming increasingly attractive in terms of foreign investment. "Today, we are gradually creating favourable environment for an investment flow. In particular, it applies to tax allowances. On the CIS space there are few places where the investors enjoy exemption from income taxes for the term of three years", Mr. Bartsits maintains.

According to the Head of the Mission of the Republic of Abkhazia in the Russian Federation on Investment Policy, such factors as a fairly high level of economic freedom, flexibility of state regulation of economy and a higher return of invested capital as compared to Russia also encourage the flow of investment into the Republic.

At the same time, Mr. Bartsits notes that the main obstacle for more intensive investment is "the tethered legislation". "The investor has to act under the legislation of 1994 which are inapplicable in the current environment", Mr. Bartsits believes. In his opinion, the new Parliament will primarily have to concentrate on the legislative reform in the sphere of economics.

Further, Mr. Bartsits admitted that political risks may discourage a potential investor. However, he noted that the most significant concern of the investors is the regulatory framework which does not agree with modern standards.

Presently, the Mission of Abkhazia in the Russian Federation on Investment Policy participates in the implementation of a number of Russian investment projects. In particular, the "Alternativa" scientific-production association — one of Russia's food industry giants will shortly enter Abkhazia's market. The "Alternativa" scientific-production association is the owner of such widely-known brands as "Russky Hit" and "Smak".

The Investment Policy Mission of Abkhazia in the Russian Federation was established over a year and a half ago. Since that moment, the Mission has implemented several projects, including the arrangement of the Pitsunda International Economic Forum attended by representatives of major Russian business enterprises as well as prominent political personalities and experts.

Sukhum, At the end of its visit to Abkhazia, the EU delegation met Head of the Government Alexandr Ankvab and the country's NGOs and declared its determination to expand its participation in the development of Abkhazia's democracy.

Meeting the EU representatives, Prime Minister of Abkhazia said that the country's NGOs enjoy significant authority in the political and public circles and that the Government strives to maintain constant dialogue with them. "They are true experts contributing to the cause of building a civilized society", Mr. Ankvab noted.

Further, the Head of the Cabinet stressed that the authorities makes every effort to facilitate the activity of the NGOs. "There are no legislative barriers or other biases in terms of 'Western funds'", Mr. Ankvab stressed.

The European Commission said that the information obtained in Abkhazia related to the country's NGOs will be the basis for new EU development programmes for Abkhazia.

Hugues Mingarelli, Director of the DG for External Relations of the European Commission, stressed that the European Union will further support the development of democracy in Abkhazia.

According to representatives of Abkhazia's NGOs, the European Union could facilitate the implementations of projects in the sphere of education, strengthening the European values and democratic institutions.

At the meeting, Prime Minister Alexandr Ankvab, as well as other representatives of the country's leadership noted that Abkhazia's direct cooperation with the European Union should not depend on the political settlement of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict.

The representative delegation of the European Union visited Abkhazia on 17—19 January. The delegation's seventeen members met the country's leadership, inspected the Abkhaz customs and excise authorities. On 18 January, the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby joined the delegation.

The main task of the delegation, as Mr. Semneby put it, was to establish direct contacts with Abkhazia in terms of the "changes in the EU policy conditioned by the expansion of the Organization".

Sukhum, President of Abkhazia Sergey Bagapsh called on the country's different social and political forces to unite for the national interests of the Republic.

"The year 2007 will be of critical importance in terms of attaining our strategic objectives. We expect significant progress in the sphere of recognition of our independence by the international community, therefore we must join our efforts to achieve this goal, which is the priority for our state", said the President at the meeting with the country's intellectuals on Wednesday.

The Head of State called on Abkhazia's political and intellectual elite to sink rivalries, personal ambition and old grudges. "It does not matter to me whether you support the government or the opposition. What really matters is how your potential may be used for our country's future", said President Bagapsh.

The Head of State warned against a possible political split-up in the society, especially n the eve of the parliamentary election. "We are living in a world of new realities. Today's Abkhazia is not governed from either Moscow or Tbilisi. We ourselves govern our own state. If there is a split-up, we will have only ourselves to blame", said Sergey Bagapsh.

Sukhum, President of Abkhazia Sergey Bagapsh called on all Abkhazia's ethnic communities to participate in the parliamentary elections scheduled for 4 March 2007 by nominating their own candidates.

"Abkhazia is a multinational country. The interests of its entire population must be represented in Parliament", said the President at the meeting with the country's intellectuals and NGOs on Wednesday in Sukhum.

According to the President, the legislative branch must serve the interests of the Abkhaz, the Russians, the Armenians, the Georgians, the Greeks as well as of other ethnic groups residing in the Republic.

The prosperity of the Republic is directly related to social accord and preservation of the original mutual respect between all the ethnic communities, the Head of State believes. "We are not building a monoethnic state, and this fact must be common knowledge", Sergey Bagapsh said.

The next election to the National Assembly — Parliament of Abkhazia is scheduled for 4 March 2007. The Parliament has 35 members (Deputies) elected for the term of 5 years. The Deputies are elected on the basis of national, equal and direct franchise in single-mandate constituencies (one electoral district — one Deputy) by secret ballot.

Any citizen of the Republic of Abkhazia who has reached the age of 25 and has the right to take part in the election may become Deputy of the Parliament.

01.10.2007  Abkhaziagov.org

Sukhum, President of Abkhazia Sergey Bagapsh held consultations with the country's intellectuals and NGOs on the composition of the Public Chamber of the Republic on Wednesday.

The nominations suggested by the participants of the meeting will be made public within two days.

Under the Law on the Public Chamber adopted in December 2006, the presidential quota amounts to 13 persons. Thus, the Head of State can appoint 13 members of the Public Chamber by presidential decree. In this connection, the President decided to hold consultations with the country's intellectuals and NGOs so that they can suggest their nominations for approval by the President.

Sergey Bagapsh addressed the meeting stressing the significance of the stage of forming the Public Chamber. "The main challenge of the Public Chamber is the protection of rights of Abkhazia's citizens", said the President.

The Head of State pointed out the importance of establishing the civil society institutions. "This institution is a vital necessity in terms of building an advanced civil society, said Sergey Bagapsh. — It is up to you to decide how the country will develop and what our strategies will be. The authorities will have no decision-making monopoly. The Chamber is to bring up specific issues and help find ways to resolve them as well as to define the priorities".

The President stressed the significance of ensuring the democratic character of the procedure of forming the Public Chamber. "The whole process must be transparent. I would like the Public Chamber to be a representative body. Every population stratum must have representation in the Chamber. Only in this case it will be a democratic institution", the Head of State remarked. "I fully realize that it will mean extra headache for the executive, however, there can be no other way", Sergey Bagapsh said.

The Law on the Public Chamber was adopted early in December 2006. Under the legislation, 13 members of the Chamber shall be appointed by Presidential Decree. Further, the 13 appointed members shall choose another 11 members from the nominations suggested by local self-government bodies. Finally, the 24 members jointly agree on the remaining 11 nominations from the list submitted by political organizations. In total, the Public Chamber will have 35 members.

Sukhum, President of Abkhazia Sergey Bagapsh sets store by the expected investigation by the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) of the incident in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone of 5 January, when unidentified persons attacked the Georgian police checkpoint.

"We will appreciate it if the UN identifies the actual perpetrators of this act of provocation", said the President in an interview to his Official Site.

The Head of State regards the recent developments as "terrorism exalted to state policy by Georgia".

"In 2006 we achieved a considerable improvement in the situation in the Gal district in terms of crime reduction. Recently, the crime level in the district has been higher than, say, in Georgia? s near-border districts. Provocative actions by the Georgian side are aimed at detonating the situation in the region", said President Bagapsh.

In this connection the President welcomes any efforts by the international community on stabilizing the situation in the Gal district and averting the threat of terrorism.

Sukhum, The UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) has issued a statement calling on the conflicting parties to "cooperate to prevent any escalation of the conflict".

The statement condemns the incident which took place on 5 January on the Georgian-Abkhaz border, when a Georgian police checkpoint was attacked.

"This is the third act of violent incident following the killings that occurred on 25 and 26 December in the Gal district (when terrorist attacks resulted in the killing of three Abkhaz police officers — Editor's note), which undermines the security in the zone of conflict", says the document.

The UN stresses that the perpetrators of the attacks must be apprehended and brought to justice.

To ensure security in the region, the UN military observers will increase the number and frequency of their patrols in lower Gal.

It was earlier reported that Plenipotentiary of the President of Abkhazia in the Gal district Ruslan Kishmariya has called on the international organizations to focus their attention on the escalation of tensions in the Gal district.

Alongside with that, the CIS Peacekeeping Force addressed the conflicting parties on Monday, calling them to demonstrate "self possession and patience".

Abkhazia's Deputy Minister of the Interior Vladimir Gaidukov in an interview to a state TV channel on Thursday that on the New Year's eve not a single crime was committed in the Gal district. "This is a success of our police. The entire territory of the district is under control. We have not registered any violations of law in this territory", Vladimir Gaidukov said.

Sukhum, Georgia is preparing a police operation in the Gal district, Plenipotentiary of the President in the Gal district Ruslan Kishmariya told the President's Official Site.

In his words, the Georgian security agencies are fully responsible for the complicated situation in the Gal district, which is the result of terrorist attacks on the Abkhaz police officers last December.

"Georgia's answer to our successful law enforcement effort against crime was terrorism, killings of our police officers, threats and provocations", Ruslan Kishmariya said.

He noted that last Friday's attack on the Georgian checkpoint on the border with Abkhazia was engineered by the Georgian security agencies themselves. "It was a pure provocation. The UN observers monitoring the security situation in the district did not register any movement on our side. We have achieved peace in the region and have no intention to heat up tensions", said Plenipotentiary of the President.

Ruslan Kishmariya called on the international organizations to apply pressure on the Georgian side to prevent further police operations which will result in the renewal of the conflict between the two states.

"I can not help wondering at the inertia of the international intermediaries in the conflict settlement. They pay no regard to the escalation of tensions by the Georgian side. I am calling on them to use their leverage without delay and prevent another bloodshed", Ruslan Kishmariya said.