“Your composition of the Parliament once made fateful decisions for the people of Abkhazia, for our statehood. I am glad that I have the opportunity to communicate with you. Given your experience, it is important for me to know your point of view on the processes taking place in our country, on how to develop the correct political and economic course to achieve the goals of strengthening the Abkhaz statehood, improving the quality of life of our citizens, so that we are considered as strong, established state, the head of state said.

President briefly spoke about the most pressing problems and the work being done in these areas.

Aslan Bzhania explained personnel decisions in the government and the motives that guided the formation of the Cabinet of Ministers.

“An eternal problem is the division of our society into several political camps. It hindered and hinders us to this day, therefore, it was decided to leave many leaders of the previous staff, taking into account their experience and good indicators that they showed. Today, more than half of those who worked with the former President work in our executive authorities. This was done deliberately. 8 months of work showed who copes with the assigned duties. In the near future, I will definitely adjust the composition of the government. There are people who have coped, there are those who have not been able to cope with the tasks assigned to them, ” President said.

Further, Aslan Bzhania touched upon one of the most discussed problems in the country - energy. The head of state stressed the impossibility of high-quality and round-the-clock supply of electricity to population. President spoke about the situation in the industry, recalled the ongoing repair of IngurHES, the volume of flow from the Russian Federation and how much electricity is illegally spent on the production of cryptocurrencies.

President reported on the measures taken by the country's leadership to overcome the energy crisis and the bills sent to Parliament, providing tougher measures against violators involved in illegal mining of cryptocurrencies.

“I hope that Parliament will make a decision next week,” stressed Aslan Bzhania. At the same time, he noted that these actions will help solve one problem in the energy sector and pass the period until Abkhazia receives a flow of electricity from the Russian Federation, but these measures will not solve the complex of energy problems.

“The energy problem has long roots. Experts have calculated that in order for our power industry to work in a trouble-free mode and we have the opportunity to serve the needs of our economy and develop, it is necessary to invest about 21 billion rubles in this industry, ” President said.

Aslan Bazhniya said that following the meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Harmonization Plan was signed, which follows from the 2014 Cooperation Agreement.

“Energy issues are also reflected there. According to the document, the Russian Federation is helping us in terms of attracting investments in the energy. This project is, on the one hand, state-owned, and on the other, commercial. We will probably follow the path of public-private partnership, but we will have to make not very popular decisions, ” President shared his plans. One cannot do without raising the electricity tariff.

“The fact that the problems were postponed, the cardinal necessary decisions were not taken, has led to the present day,” concluded Bzhania.

President also spoke about the coronavirus pandemic. He recalled that the budget of 2020 did not receive about 1 billion rubles due to the pandemic, however, 260 million rubles were allocated from the budget to fight coronavirus infection. In addition, businessmen, the diaspora, and international organizations provided substantial assistance to the state. The Russian Federation rendered great assistance by organizing a mobile hospital and sending doctors to work on a rotational basis.

“I really empathize with all families, I myself have had this disease. We tried to keep the situation under control. More than 500 beds were created, buildings were repaired, a computer tomograph was purchased, we have 77 ventilators, even more concentrators, we expanded the capabilities of our laboratory, organized another line. Nevertheless, the problem is still acute, ” Bzhania said. In this regard, President also touched upon the issue of schools that is of concern to our society.

“In recent days, there has been a certain decline in the number of detected cases. Let's see if this is a trend or a temporary phenomenon. But we will have to renew the restrictive measures. On the other hand, we face a problem in the educational process. Сhildren's education is a priority. On Monday we will make a decision, we will have a big government meeting. When making a decision, we will take into account the wishes of the parents. Most likely, it will be about the fact that we will save the school year, move it due to the summer months taking into account the peculiarities in the districts and rural schools, we will follow this path, ” Bzhania said. First of all when making decisions we will be guided by health issues priority.

Then President spoke about the relationship with the Russian Federation, the implementation of the articles of the Treaty on Alliance and Strategic Partnership of 2014. It was also about strengthening military and military-technical cooperation.

“The draft agreement raises questions from both the Parliament, public and political figures. The situation around us is changing dynamically. We must draw the right conclusions from the events in Karabakh and strengthen military cooperation with the Russian Federation. Military issues are key. This is a task that needs to be solved, and your position, your word and your support will be needed here, ” President believes.

For his part, Secretary of the Security Council Sergey Shamba noted that meetings in this format are useful.

“The founders of our state are sitting here. They have a very large experience necessary for the development of our state. Unfortunately, new generations come and forget what was done before them. We must not forget the merits of people who have done a lot for our state. Perhaps it is even worth creating an advisory body under President from among the deputies of the first parliament, ” Shamba said.

President also expressed a desire to meet regularly with the deputies of the first convocation of the Parliament and hear their views on various issues. “Your composition is rightfully called golden. I will gladly accept your comments and criticism. The experience that you have is unique and it would be great if you work for our statehood for many more years. I would like to meet regularly with you. We will think over the format of regular contacts, ” Aslan Bzhania stressed.

Then the meeting continued without the participation of journalists.