All Russians who choose to spent their vacations in Abkhazia are well aware of the risk that Abkhazia's unstable economic situation poses to them: there are a lot of unemployed poor people, so one should be
careful not to get mugged. This problem, of course, is not particular to Abkhazia, it exists in all tourism hot spots.
Mugging is a common thing in resort areas of Abkhazia, but robberies accompanied by violent assaults are shockingly new to the region. That is why the incident involving 11 Russian tourists in the Ochamchirsk region attracted such intent attention from the authorities, as well as the public. Three perpetrators armed with guns stopped the Russian tourists' micro-van on its way from the Abrskila caves – the most popular place of interest in the region - and sequestered it along with 63,000 rubles and some other valuable items. The Abkhaz police were surprised by this assault: it is the first case of armed assaults on tourists in this region. As a result of immediate actions taken by the police the micro van was found, but the robbers had already escaped the scene.
The chief secretary of the National Security Council, Otar Khetsiya, told journalists that he is gravely concerned by the fact that the police were unable to arrest the assailants, as such incompetence undermines the security of tourists and the country’s image in general. He also suggested that the police have some serious internal structural issues to be taken care of. Leon Dzapshiba, the Interior Minister, was, in his turn, indignant at such a claim. He assured that the police are operating in an intensified mode and are quite capable of assuring tourists’ safety as well as solving crimes.
Criminal issues, however, are not the only thing hampering tourism development in Abkhazia. This summer there are some problems on the Russian-Abkhaz border that are slowing down passport control and creating a long line to the check-point. The Abkhaz government is trying to ease the unavoidable tension by creating a telephone emergency service ready to record and respond to all violations of
tourists’ rights (the number is 99 99 400).
Now it is easier to reach Abkhazia by train: recently the direct Moscow-Sukhumi line was finally re-opened after general repairs. During the hot season, in the period July 29 – October 18 the train will run on a daily basis.
Ekaterina Tesemnikova, exclusively to VK
