The newly elected president of the unrecognized state of Abkhazia, Badra Gunba, met in the Kremlin with Russian President Vladimir Putin and asked for support for the development of the country's energy sector.
On March 1, following the results of the second round of the early presidential elections in Abkhazia, Gunba received 56.85% of the vote. On March 5, Gunba met with Putin, thanked the Russian leader and Russia as a whole for supporting Abkhazia and asked for economic preferences, in particular additional humanitarian supplies of electricity to the republic. The only domestic source of electricity in Abkhazia is the "Inguri" hydroelectric power plant, built in the late 1970s. In the fall and winter, there is too little water in the high-altitude reservoir, and the station reduces production. In mid-December 2024, the station generates 120 megawatts (2.2 million kWh per day) with an average consumption of 9.5 million kWh.
„We have a serious energy problem. You know, in November Abkhazia faced an acute energy shortage, when the population was without electricity for up to 11 hours a day. This is also a factor for the country's security. I asked Vladimir Putin to provide additional support in the form of a humanitarian flow of electricity. This is what we talked about first. Of course, I asked for support for the development of energy. We have a development plan, we need to check it with our Russian colleagues and implement it in order to avoid serious problems in this area“, Gunba said.
The issue of obtaining Russian rights for citizens of Abkhazia with Russian-Abkhaz dual citizenship was also raised. “This is very important, since today a large number of people are employed in the tourism industry and are engaged in transport. From April 1, unless the date of entry into force of this decision is postponed, citizens of our country, motorists, will not be able to cross the border with Russia if they do not have time to obtain Russian driver's licenses. All these are sensitive issues that directly affect the citizens of our country“, Gunba said.
In addition, the parties discussed general economic and social support issues, as well as security issues, including for Russian tourists.