Benefits for the Rich, or Thirty Pieces of Silver for Aslan Bzhania, by Izida Chania

In the city of Gudauta, there's a scandal. Residents of the district centre have blocked the drainage system through which sewage from the "Russia" hotel is discharged into the sea. This situation is not new; last holiday season also saw dissatisfied reviews from vacationers, outrage from nearby residents, and sanitary inspections mandating the installation of treatment facilities. The district administration held negotiations with the hotel's owner, Russian investor Sichinava, but achieved nothing beyond promises.

This year, the hotel lowered its prices, and all 14 floors are filled with vacationers. While affordable, the experience is quite dubious. The stream into which the sewage flows emits a stench that reaches the beach where the hotel's guests swim. The level of pathogenic bacteria in this area exceeds all permissible standards. Investor Sichinava lives outside our country and is uninterested in what happens at his numerous properties in Abkhazia.

Of course, the "Russia" hotel is not the only investment project. However, it is a telling example of how foreign investors behave when given the right to profit from our country. Privileges, exemptions, tax breaks, and close ties with the president, who personally grants them the right to undertake projects, allow them to show disregard for the country, its people, the district administration, sanitary regulations, and so forth. Widespread violations of labour rights at resort facilities, non-compliance with sanitary standards, and ignoring advertising and language laws are met with no response from either the prosecutor's office or human rights defenders. Without orders from the top, sewage can flow into the sea, people can be insulted and exploited, and the environment can be destroyed.

However, there is always a positive side to find. In this current scandal, it is apparent and seems specially created for the parliament members discussing two interrelated documents submitted by Aslan Bzhania. These are the agreement on benefits for Russian businessmen and the apartment law project. Bzhania hopes that before the parliamentary recess (which starts in 15 days, on August 1), the deputies will pass these regulatory acts, despite public protest.

Passing detrimental laws that do not align with national interests is a common practice before parliamentary recesses. Additionally, this way, the president dilutes his personal responsibility for the consequences. Thus, Bzhania has already enlisted an anonymous group of deputies from the Ochamchira district assembly to lobby for his initiatives. They publicly request him to pass the apartment law. The appeal is unsigned, and no one knows the names of the heroes who want to support Aslan Bzhania at the expense of serious risks, not only to the country's economy.

It should be noted that this is Aslan Bzhania’s third attempt to grant unprecedented benefits to Russian oligarchs: exempting them from taxes and duties to the Abkhazian budget, implementing schemes whereby land allocated for projects is removed from Abkhazian jurisdiction, allowing Russian businessmen to import foreign labour, introducing Russian banks to service these projects, and so forth. Previously, the benefit agreement project was submitted to parliament as amendments to the long-standing foreign investment law but was rejected twice by parliament. Now, Aslan Bzhania is proposing that parliament discuss the Russian-Abkhazian Agreement, which provides preferential rights only for Russian businessmen. It is clear that there would be no discussion in parliament, and the Agreement would be signed covertly, behind the people's backs, as, for example, the agreement on the Pitsunda datcha. However, several months ago, parliament passed a law requiring all international documents to be discussed in parliament before being signed. This is not a guarantee, of course, but at least some resistance to Aslan Bzhania's mass sell-off of the country.

Of course, the deputies are under pressure from both the country's leadership and beyond. No brave representatives have publicly stated this, but they quietly grumble among themselves, understanding that they will bear the responsibility for anti-people decisions, even if collectively. It is they who will be reproached by voters. It is they who will be addressed by politicians and public figures, it is their names that will appear on social networks, it is they who will not be greeted in public places. Abkhazia is a small country, and not everyone, like Aslan Bzhania, is surrounded by guards, and not everyone, like Aslan Bzhania, lives outside Abkhazia. Moreover, there are a significant number of deputies in parliament who consider Abkhazia their homeland, feel responsible for its future, and plan to raise their children here. Therefore, there is hope that their voice will carry weight.

But let us return to the apartment law project. It, too, has been travelling between parliament and the president's administration for a long time, changing along the way. However, economists believe that the agreement on benefits for Russian oligarchs—whom our president calls "investors"—is being lobbied specifically for this project. Yet, these "investors" presented to us by our president are invariably stingy and greedy, despite being wealthy. And such "freeloaders" usually gather in countries with a deficient government willing to flood the entire area with sewage to sell the country for thirty pieces of silver.

This article was published by Nuzhnaya Gazeta and is translated from Russian.