Georgia fails to persuade Russia to close railroad to Abkhazia

Talks between the Russian Railroad Ministry and Georgia on closing the railroad between breakaway Abkhazia and Russia have brought no results.

A representative of the Transport and Communications Ministry of Georgia told RBC that the Railroad Ministry of Russia had refused to sign a protocol after the two-day negotiations between Georgian Transport and Communications Minister Merab Adeishvili and officials of the Russian Railroad Ministry, as it was planned earlier. The Transport and Communications Ministry of Georgia pointed out that a decision to close the railroad pertained to the political leadership and the Foreign Ministry of Russia.

A representative of the Press Service of Russia's Railroad Ministry told RBC that the ministry had nothing to do with the organization of railway service on the Sukhumi-Sochi railroad, since a private company from Abkhazia had leased a train from the North Caucasus Railroad to provide passenger railway service. Therefore, this company is fully responsible for the organization of the service, the representative of the Railroad Ministry underlined.