President Saakashvili said at a groundbreaking ceremony of construction of a new highway connecting eastern part of the country with the western Georgia that this new road will lead to Sokhumi, the capital of breakaway Abkhazia and Tskhinvali, the capital of breakaway South Ossetia.

“Today is March 15, 2006. By the beginning of 2011 this [new] road will take us to Sokhumi; however I plan to arrive in Sokhumi much sooner… and in 2008 [after the new road is constructed] it will take us to Tskhinvali,” Saakashvili said.

He also said that the construction of the new highway Tbilisi-Senaki (Samegrelo region)-Leselidze (breakaway Abkhazia) was made possible as a result of increased revenues in the state budget.