Abkhaz Prime Minister Anri Jergeniya accused the some officials of the Abkhaz Church of trying to gain independence from the Constantinople patriarch, followed by criticism of the PM from members of the parliament. Nikolai Silayev, a senior scientist of the Center for Problems of the Caucasus and Regional Security of MGIMO, believes that the prime minister was right about existence of other problems the government should focus on.
He noted that the case of the church was a matter of personal ambitions, a struggle for the Novo-Afonsky Monastery. The expert cannot predict the exact scenario for the scandal, but the result will most likely be negative, he assumes. Certain agreements between the Russian and Georgian Orthodox Churches are possible, Silayev assumes.
