MOSCOW, October 5. /TASS/. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday declined to comment on the purported transfer of many Black Sea Fleet ships from Sevastopol to Novorossiysk.

"No, I cannot comment on this in any way," the Russian presidential spokesman told reporters.

"Naturally, the issues related to the stationing of our units, our ships and our formations are the issues that are within the competence of the Defense Ministry," Peskov said, replying to a question about the purported transfer of Black Sea Fleet ships and plans to set up a Russian naval base in Abkhazia.

Earlier, Abkhazian President Aslan Bzhaniya said in an interview with the daily Izvestia that a permanent base of the Russian Navy would soon be set up in the Ochamchira district of Abkhazia under an agreement signed.