Further Assessment Planned for Former Council of Ministers Building in Sukhum
The former Council of Ministers building in Sukhum stands as a stark reminder of the city’s wartime destruction.
SUKHUM / AQW'A — The former Council of Ministers building in Sukhum will undergo a further technical assessment next year after two expert evaluations reached conflicting conclusions, the city’s mayor has said.
Speaking at a press conference, Sukhum Mayor Timur Agrba said an additional inspection was required in order to prepare the technical brief for a public design competition, previously announced by the Abkhaz leadership.
According to Agrba, the building has already been examined twice by licensed firms, but their findings differ significantly. One expert report concludes that the structure is not seismically safe and recommends its complete demolition. The second suggests a partial dismantling, proposing that the building be lightened and reduced to the sixth floor.
“Two licensed companies have produced entirely different conclusions,” Agrba said. “In one case, the building is deemed unsafe and must be fully dismantled. In the other, it is recommended that the structure be partially taken down to the sixth floor.”
Only after a final expert opinion is obtained will the authorities proceed with announcing the design competition.
Earlier, Abkhaz President Badra Gunba instructed the city administration to organise a competition for the best redevelopment project for the site of the former Council of Ministers building. Two wings of the complex are classified as objects of historical and cultural heritage and must be preserved as part of any future development.
The former Council of Ministers building in Sukhum, heavily damaged during the 1992–93 Georgian-Abkhaz war, remains a prominent landmark of the conflict, its fire-scarred structure still visible despite occasional temporary coverings for public events.