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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Khadjimba, I am pleased to see you.

We met in summer for the Republic’s anniversary events. I will not go into the nature of our relations, which undoubtedly have a special, strategic, allied character. We agreed that we would meet in a situation as neutral as possible and discuss current working issues. There are no doubt a lot of them.

Our trade is growing, but at low rates overall: five percent last year, two percent in the first nine to ten months of this year. While our enterprises do operate there, 300 of them, I do not think it is enough. We said back then that additional efforts are needed to boost economic development.

I am very happy to see you so that we could discuss in a truly informal setting all the issues you think most urgent for the republic’s progress.

President of Abkhazia Raul Khadjimba: Thank you.

I would like to express my gratitude to you for the opportunity to meet again after our meetings in August. There are issues that we probably need to discuss. Our meetings have become a tradition and they are a testament to the relations being established between our nations.

Work under the investment programme has been proceeding rapidly, and there has been some success. Equally important to us is the work underway as part of the investment agency activities. There are projects that have been completed, and facilities that have already launched, particularly in the agricultural sector.

As to the work we spoke about regarding the information and coordination centre, a defence agency, which are now directly engaged and working actively, over 94 events have been carried out this year, which speaks to the intensive cooperation between our military agencies. It is crucial for Abkhazia and is needed as another demonstration of our relations.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you.

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