16:16, 19 March 2004

Blockade against Adjaria lifted

In line with a decree issued by Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, all economic sanctions, introduced against the Adjarian autonomy on March 15, were lifted during the night of March 18-19.

Railway traffic from Tbilisi to Batumi was fully resumed, the blockade of the Batumi port was lifted and the Batumi airport was re-opened, Georgian Interior Minister Georgy Baramidze told journalists.

The authorities also lifted road restrictions at Adjaria's Sarpi checkpoint on the Georgian-Turkish border. Banking operations with the autonomous republic were resumed and all the accounts of Adjarian legal entities frozen by the National Bank of Georgia were released.

In response, Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze lifted the curfew and the state of emergency that had been introduced in the autonomy on November 24, 2003.

Source: RIA Novosti