Abkhaz leader, Sergey Bagapsh, signed a decree on establishing a commission “to secure legality while resolving” property rights of Russian citizens in Abkhazia, Abkhaz news agency, Apsnipress, reported on September 17.

Moscow-proposed commission to tackle property disputes of the Russian citizens in the breakaway region triggered controversy and debates in Sokhumi in mid-August. The opponents of the proposal feared that it could pave the way for the return of thousands of those Georgians, who fled Abkhazia after the armed conflict in early 90s and who now reside in Russia, holding Russian passports.

PM of the breakaway region, Sergey Shamba, said late last month that Moscow’s initial proposal was dismissed by Sokhumi, although the Abkhaz side was not rejecting the idea itself. He said that the proposal should have been tailored to the Abkhaz realities and required that each disputed case was discussed separately and thoroughly in order to prevent return of ethnic Georgians with Russian citizenship.