SUKHUM, October 5. /TASS/. Russia can deploy its warships in the Black Sea port of Ochamchira in Abkhazia because the countries have a treaty allowing this, said Abkhaz Security Council Secretary Sergey Shamba.
Abkhaz President Aslan Bzhania previously said in an interview with Izvestia that Russia will soon open a Navy base in Ochamchira for its Black Sea Fleet.
"We signed an agreement earlier [on a Russian military base in Abkhazia] and it contains a clause on a Russian Naval base. We are preparing for them to be deployed," Shamba told TASS.
A representative of the Abkhaz Defense Ministry told TASS that the Ochamchira port fully meets the requirements for a deployment of Russian naval ships, and there are plans to build more berths there.
The Defense Ministry official also said that the main agreement on the deployment of the Russian military base in Abkhazia was signed in 2010, and it called for a step-by-step deployment.
"We are fulfilling the provisions of that agreement, which has many nuances both on logistics and other issues. A protocol was also signed this year as a follow-up to that agreement. The infrastructure of the Ochamchira port is fully compliant, but additional berths for these ships will also be built," the Defense Ministry representative said. The official also said a working meeting will be held in late October to discuss starting construction and the entire range of issues related to the deployment of the Russian Navy in the Ochamchira port.