ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
March 23, 2007 Friday 04:07 PM EST

Russia, Georgia coordinating final phase of bases’ pullout

Georgia and Russia are coordinating the final phase of the pullout of
Russian military bases from Batumi and Akhalkalaki.

Representatives of the Georgian Defense Ministry, the Russian Forces
in the South Caucasus and the Russian embassy convened in Tbilisi on
Friday.

Officials from the Georgian Interior Ministry, the Justice Ministry
and some other departments supervising the bases’ pullout also
attended the meeting, the Georgian Defense Ministry said.

“Deputy Chief of the General Staff Vladimir Chachibaya is the
Georgian representative in the joint operative and technical group,
while his Russian counterpart is 12th Batumi base commander Anatoly
Danilov,” the ministry said.

Sources at the Russian bases in Batumi and Akhalkalaki told Itar-Tass
on Friday that the pullout will resume in April.

According to the bilateral agreements, the Batumi base will close by
October 1, 2008, while the Akhalkalaki base will cease to exist by
October 1, 2007.

All heavy materiel and armaments were withdrawal from Akhalkalaki to
Russia and Russia’s military base in the Armenian city of Gyumri last
year.

The remaining vehicles and servicemen will leave Akhalkalaki this
year.

Hardware, armaments and the overwhelming majority of servicemen from
the Tbilisi garrison of the Russian Forces in the South Caucasus were
withdrawn last year. A small group of garrison officers is
supervising the bases’ pullout from Tbilisi.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress