President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President,
I am happy to see you again and want to thank you for your participation in the celebrations marking the Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
It is quite natural for you to attend such events as over 55,000 Abkhazia residents participated in the Great Patriotic War with 23 of them conferred the title Hero of the Soviet Union. There were also those who were decorated with three Orders of Glory; 17,000 ethnic Abkhazians died. Their feat is truly staggering. Therefore, it is absolutely natural for Abkhazia and its people to honour their heroic ancestors.
I want to stress that our inter-state relations are successfully moving ahead. You have been in office for over a year, and positive changes have been happening during that time. Suffice it to say that trade turnover has grown by 16 percent in the past year. This is a good trend.
Clearly, a lot more has to be done, and this is natural. This is what I suggest we talk about today.
President of the Republic of Abkhazia Badra Gunba: Thank you very much.
Mr President,
Allow me to once again congratulate you on this great holiday and convey words of gratitude for enabling future generations to keep the cherished memory about the Great Victory. This is your personal merit. I am confident that people will continue to appreciate this for generations to come.
Of course, while in Moscow, I would also like to discuss several bilateral issues. You were absolutely right in noting that our relations are developing rapidly and we are seeing active growth in virtually all areas.
I would l like to use the chance and thank you for your decision to open the Sukhum airport shortly after our meeting. In 2025, over 120,000 passengers used regular flights. Sukhum has opportunities to develop links with other cities through flights to Moscow, St Petersburg, Khanty-Mansiysk, Ufa, and Nizhny Novgorod. Just in a few days, we expect the launch of a new route with Mineralnye Vody in the Stavropol Territory. The geography of flights is expanding. This surely adds an additional momentum to our relations and economic development.
Using this occasion, Mr President, I want to thank you for the decision regarding medical personnel. Last year during the high season, Russian medics were in our country helping our specialists. You also made a decision to transfer sanitary-epidemiological laboratories, very important ones that we lacked.
I also want to thank you for your decision related to the new border crossing rules with children under 14. The current restrictions do not apply to Abkhazia. This creates an opportunity to significantly increase tourist inflows.
So, I thank you for your personal care and active involvement in interaction processes between our countries.
Let me thank you once again and wish you success, and also allow me to convey congratulations from the citizens of our country.
Vladimir Putin: Thank you very much.
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