SUKHUMI, May 29 (AVN) - President of the self-proclaimed Abkhazian republic Vladislav Ardzinba issued a special decree prohibiting taking any military property or ordnance from the territory of the republic, via the Russian contingent base in Gudauta, a source in the collective peacekeeping force headquarters said on Monday.
As a result of this, Russian military transport planes that supply the Russian peacekeepers are returning from there empty, the source told the Military News Agency. That is despite the fact that there are a lot of out-of-staff equipment and ordnance at the base, the source stressed.
According to him, the lack of agreement between Russia and Georgia concerning the withdrawal of the Russian base from Gudauta within the frames of the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty is to the advantage of the Abkhazian party. Sukhumi reckons that after the Russian troops are withdrawn from the base all the weapons and materiel will become property of the Abkhazian army.