From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng (Original Message) Sent: 4/14/2005 1:47 PM 8 April 2005 ABKHAZ PRIME MINISTER DETERMINED TO ROOT OUT CORRUPTION.
Former Interior Minister Aleksandr Ankvab, whom President Sergei Bagapsh named in February to head the new Abkhaz government, has survived two assassination attempts within the space of just over one month (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 1 March and 4 April 2005). Both attacks on his motorcade took place at the same spot, on the road from Sukhum to Ankvab's home in Gudauta, and he and other Abkhaz officials are convinced they were undertaken by the same persons or group.
In an extensive interview published in "Russkii kurer" on 31 March -- the day before the second assassination attempt -- Ankvab said he believes the February attack, in which three bullets were fired at his car, was intended to kill, not just to intimidate him. He said that "criminal elements" have taken control of large sectors of the unrecognized republic's economy, and repeated his pre-election pledge to do all in his power to bring them to account. He also stressed his commitment to truth and transparency, saying he has taken as his motto "Don't lie." He said he intends to promote talented young people to official positions regardless of their family background, in contrast to the policy of his predecessor.
Ankvab also revealed details of Abkhazia's economic dependence on Russia, explaining that in recent years the budget existed only on paper, and the republic could not have survived without subsidies from Moscow. He pointed out, for example, that monthly payments in pensions and state sector salaries for the military, teachers and doctors amount to 22 million rubles ($790,000), while there is currently no more than 3 million rubles in the state treasury. (In January 2005, former Tax Minister Adgur Lushba said budget revenues for 2004 totaled 194.1 million rubles, Apsnipress reported.)
Asked to comment on Abkhazia's future relations with Russia, Ankvab stressed that Abkhazia is already an independent, sovereign and democratic state, and that the norms of international law preclude its incorporation into the Russian Federation. That statement, assuming it was not misconstrued, would seem to contradict Bagapsh's statement in March to the Russian State Duma, in which he was reported to have said that Abkhazia will continue to aspire to the status of an "associate member" of the Russian Federation. Ankvab further rejected as unacceptable and outdated the possibility of Abkhazia and Georgia agreeing to form a confederation, let alone Abkhaz acceptance of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's repeated offers of "broad autonomy." (Liz Fuller)
Compiled by Liz Fuller http://www.rferl.org/reports/caucasus-report/
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