The so-called acting Prime Minister of occupied Abkhazia, Valeri Bganba, announced that Russia has banned the import of tangerines from Abkhazia, citing the discovery of a harmful insect as the reason.
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Bganba stated that Abkhazia’s sanitary services deny the presence of any harmful insects in citrus fruits.
“As a rule, this insect is ‘discovered’ by the Russian side in Abkhazia ahead of early elections. Unfortunately, this measure will impact the poorer segments of the population, who rely on the harvest for their livelihood,” the so-called acting prime minister said.
Russian media report that a line of trailers loaded with tangerines has formed along the Psou River on the Abkhazian side of the so-called border. Plans were in place to export over 37 000 tons of tangerines from Abkhazia to Russia.
It has also been revealed that, since November, Russia has completely halted financial assistance to Abkhazia. As a result, the de facto republic will lose out on 1.8 billion rubles in funding by the end of the year.
In November, protests in Sukhumi against the ratification of an “investment agreement” with Russia led to the resignation of de facto president Aslan Bzhania and the announcement of early presidential elections. Leaders of the so-called opposition claimed that their protests were not anti-Russian in nature and that they also view Russia as a strategic partner.
