TBILISI, December 9 – A long-running project to build a customs terminal at the Enguri crossing in Abkhazia has moved into its final phase, according to Ekho Kavkaza.
Astamur Aksalba, presented as the head of a local transit and logistics company, said construction is about 80 percent finished and that Sukhumi is “hypothetically ready” to begin cargo transit. It has been unclear for years whether such a project exitsed, but the announcement is the closest to a confirmation so far.
The Enguri bridge is the main crossing point between territory controlled by Georgia and the region of Abkhazia, which has been outside Tbilisi’s control since the early 1990s. Georgian authorities do not recognize the crossing as an international border, and past statements from Georgian officials have stressed that they do not consider any customs agreement with the de facto authorities legally possible. In 2023, Georgian lawmaker Gia Volski described any bilateral customs arrangement at Enguri as “nonsense” and said Tbilisi had no connection to construction taking place on the Abkhaz side.
Aksalba said the project had been hidden intentionally because of what he described as a difficult geopolitical environment. He linked the idea of a transit hub to agreements signed between Russian and Abkhaz customs bodies in 2010 and 2011 and argued that the war in Ukraine increased the project’s importance for Russia. He also claimed that representatives of third countries, including India, Iran and Azerbaijan, have discussed potential use of the route. He said some European states might also take interest.
According to Aksalba, Georgian citizens will not be involved in any transit activity unless relations improve to the point where a non-use-of-force document is signed.
The appearance of a customs terminal at Enguri has been a recurring point of discussion for more than a decade. The subject first emerged during the 2011 agreement between Georgia and Russia that accompanied Moscow’s accession to the World Trade Organization. That deal created a system for neutral monitoring of trade flows on three corridors, including one that begins near the Enguri River, although Georgia has repeatedly insisted that the agreement does not define any borders and does not involve recognition of Abkhazia or South Ossetia, another territory left in limbo since the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Since then, various Georgian officials and Abkhaz representatives have acknowledged construction on the Abkhaz side while disputing what it means. Some Georgian politicians have described the Abkhaz facility as an internal project linked to revenue debates within Abkhaz society, rather than anything negotiated with Tbilisi. Others have said the structure is part of a broader pattern in which the two sides interpret the same developments in very different ways.
