The Minister of Economy of Russia, Maxim Reshetnikov, arrived in Georgia’s occupied region of Abkhazia on August 11, where he met the leader of the region, Aslan Bzhania, and other representatives of the separatist leadership. According to the press office of the Bzhania administration, the parties discussed economic development issues at the meeting, during which Reshetnikov said that he was greatly impressed by the work carried out in the region.

However, according to him, certain problems remain, especially in energy issues, which he called an extremely important and sensitive topic for Abkhazia. At the joint press conference held after the meeting, Aslan Bzhania noted that they discussed issues related to the implementation of large investment projects in Abkhazia and ensuring energy security. "We also discussed the humanitarian sphere of our cooperation. It seemed to me that we found mutual understanding in everything we talked about," added the leader of the occupied region.

For his part, Reshetnikov said that Russian businesses are very interested in investments, and that this is especially true in the tourism field.  "We see the current tourist season and know how much demand there is and how unique the opportunities are for the republic to grow its tourism industry," he said. "Abkhazia was helped, is being helped, and will be helped in the future by the Russian Federation to be able to take care of themselves financially ", said Reshetnikov. In this regard, the Minister of Economy drew attention to the growth of Abkhazia's income, which "significantly exceeds the rate of growth of aid received from the Russian budget".

According to the information of the local agency "Apsnypress", Reshetnikov also met with the de-facto Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of the occupied region, Kristina Ozgan. The parties inspected the construction projects implemented with Russian financing.