Azernews.Az

By Sabina Idayatova

Four years since the break-off of diplomatic ties between Georgia and Russia, their relations are likely to be warming.

Statements made by new Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili and other officials, as well as the announcement of a priority on mending Tbilisi's relations with Moscow is the main indicator of a future rapprochement between the two neighbors.

The key priority of the new Georgian government, formed following the victory of opposition coalition Georgian Dream in the October 1 parliamentary elections, is to restore good neighborliness relations with Russia both politically and economically.

Considering the importance of relations with Russia, Ivanishvili appointed Zurab Abashidze, Georgia's former ambassador to Russia (2000-2004) and political analyst, as the Prime Minister's special envoy for Russian affairs last week. Abashidze takes up his duties on Monday.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin, commenting on Abashidze's appointment to the new position, said that he is known well in Moscow as former head of Georgia's diplomatic mission and is an experienced individual and diplomat. "We have met with him several times in recent years," he added.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said after Abashidze's appointment as special envoy for Russian affairs that Moscow is looking forward to specific steps from Tbilisi on the enhancement of bilateral relations, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported.

But the Georgian opposition is not too upbeat in its expectations from the new appointment.

"Forging relations with Putin's rule is possible only if the Georgian government relinquishes significant elements of the country's sovereignty and turns a blind eye to the fact that 20 percent of Georgia is occupied and Russian embassies operate there, " Georgia Online quoted David Darchiashvili, parliamentary minority MP from the former ruling United National Movement, as saying.

Ivanishvili said after announcing the appointment, "We begin our relationship by turning over a new page, we are rejecting aggressive rhetoric and expecting reciprocal actions. We have historical relations with the Russian people, which had shaped before the Soviet Union and later strengthened. We must fix and settle the Georgian-Russian relations, and then raise them to a high level."

The new Georgian prime minister said further, "Our relations with Russia had been disrupted even prior to 2008, and the reckless war in 2008 finally led to a complete severing of diplomatic relations. Moreover, a large number of citizens of Georgia, a lot of mixed marriages give us additional trump cards in the settlement of relations."

Ivanishvili also noted that Abashidze has "a complicated and difficult" mission, but he thinks the special envoy has "the resources for reconciliation".

According to Abashidze, Georgian decisions "will be directed to Moscow through diplomatic channels" and the main issue for now is to wait for a reaction from Russia.

"We would like for the response to be positive, after that we will contact our Russian colleagues and agree upon the format of [joint] activity..."

Abashidze said the relations with Russia are the most problematic issue in Georgia's foreign policy.

"The prime minister's decision to introduce this post demonstrates his and Georgian government's readiness to create a new independent channel of relations, communication and dialogue with Russia," he said.

Meanwhile, warming is noticed in Georgian-Russian economic and cultural relations. Both during the electoral campaign and after taking office Premier Ivanishvili seems to be interested in an upturn in bilateral relations.

He firstly took a step on establishing cultural and trade relations -- rather than diplomatic relations -- between the two countries, stating the latter is a difficult and time consuming process.

"The new Georgian authorities are ready to restore railway communication with Russia, which was interrupted 20 years ago," Paata Zakareishvili, Georgian Minister for Reintegration, told Russia's Kommersant newspaper.

"In my opinion, we have to contribute to the restoration of both railway and highway transportation through Abkhazia. We must avoid any political overtones and consider the issue solely from an economic point of view," the minister said.

Zakareishvili also noted that with restoration of railway links, Georgia's geopolitical significance will increase as the goods will be transported not only in east-west, but also north-south direction.

"The new Georgian government will soon take steps to resolve the conflict in Abkhazia considering, firstly, to restore the rail link between Russia and Georgia. If we once agreed to the restoration of the railway, I'm sure in a few years many refugees would return to Abkhazia by this route and no one can stop them, despite the absence of formal arrangements or any political 'coordination'," Zakareishvili added.

Prior to the end of 2005 economic relations between Georgia and Russia were developing quite actively, bilateral turnover was on the rise and the intergovernmental economic commission was in operation. However, Russia banned imports of Georgian sparkling water and wine in 2006, citing quality problems. Since 2010 intergovernmental cooperation has been essentially frozen nearly in all areas.

Earlier, Georgian Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Giorgi Kvirikashvili highlighted return of Georgian goods to the Russian market as a priority of the new government.

According to Kvirikashvili, accessing the Russian market again will depend on many factors and it is difficult to make any predictions now, but he said the ministry of economy will strongly encourage export and investment.

Georgian Agriculture Minister David Kirvalidze said after the meeting with European Union Ambassador Philip Dimitrov on Friday that the Georgian government is ready to return and supply agricultural products to the Russian market as soon as possible.

Ivanishvili said the arrangement of exports of citrus fruits to Russia by the end of this year will be a great success.

But the main obstacle to bilateral relations is the Abkhazia and South Ossetia issue. The prime minister absolutely rules out the possibility of restoring diplomatic relations between Georgia and Russia at a time when Moscow is not inclined toward any compromise over Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Beyond political and economical events, Georgia strives to strengthen cultural relations with Russia.

Hence, the Tbilisi Puppet Theater of Rezo Gabriadze started a visit to Moscow last Friday that will last until Sunday. It will perform at the Studio of Theater Art on the Strastnoy Avenue with performances of Ramona and the Stalingrad Battle plays, Russian state news agency ITAR-TASS reported. Part of his works was demonstrated at the State Museum of Pushkin in Moscow in October. He also plans to deliver performances in Saint-Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Perm, Rostov, Samara, and Novosibirsk.

Diplomatic relations between Georgia and Russia were established on July 1, 1992 after gaining the independence from the former Soviet Union. Tensions between the two neighbors rose in August 2008 when Moscow crushed a Georgian assault to reassert control over the rebel Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions and later recognized the breakaway regions. In response, Tbilisi broke off diplomatic relations with Moscow and announced the two unrecognized republics as occupied territories in September 2008.

Georgia and the vast majority of other countries do not recognize Abkhazian and South Ossetian independence and officially consider them as sovereign territory of the Georgian state.