The president of the Russian-backed breakaway region of Abkhazia from Georgia, Aslan Bzhania, has said he will surrender after protesters vacate the parliament building in the city of Sukhimi - the capital of the separatist region, reported the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.
Bzhania said she plans to run for president again in new elections, according to RIA.
Yesterday, protesters stormed the parliament in protest against an investment agreement with Moscow, Reuters recalls.
Opposition protesters seized the parliament, presidency and government buildings of Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia, and opposition politicians demanded the resignation of President Aslan Bzhania over an unpopular investment deal with Russia.
A statement from the president's office, quoted by Reuters, said it was preparing to withdraw from parliament the bill on the investment agreement with Russia, which some Abkhazians fear will deprive them of access to the property market.
Abkhazian opposition leaders say the agreement with Moscow, which will allow investment projects by Russian legal entities, will deprive local residents of the opportunity to buy real estate by allowing much more Russian capital to flow in, Reuters notes.
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Russia recognized Abkhazia and another Georgian breakaway region, South Ossetia, as independent states in 2008, after a five-day war in which Moscow's forces repelled an attempt by Georgia to retake South Ossetia, according to Reuters. Most of the world recognizes Abkhazia as part of Georgia, from which the region seceded after a war in the early 1990s, but Russian capital has poured generously into the Black Sea region, along whose coast there are spa resorts dating back to soviet time.