Russia has begun the withdrawal of equipment from the Batumi military base in Georgia in line with a May agreement on pulling out its bases from the Caucasian country, a Russian military commander said Thursday.

The first convoy to leave the base consisted of 10 motor vehicles and will reach the Russian border Friday, Vladimir Kuparadze, deputy commander of the Russian army in Transcaucasia, told the Itar-Tass news agency.

In August, two Russian amphibious ships will pull back home 40 pieces of heavy equipment, including 20 tanks, from the base, Kuparadze said.

After years of rancorous negotiations, Moscow and Tbilisi struck a deal on May 30 on the pullout of the Russian bases in the Black Sea port of Batumi and the southern city of Akhalkalaki by 2008.

Russia has asked Georgia to reinforce a number of bridges on the road between Akhalkalaki and Akhaltsikhe, currently impassable for heavy vehicles, to pave the way for the pullout of the Akhalkalaki base.

When the bridges are repaired, Russian armored vehicles will be shipped home via Akhaltsikhe and Batumi, Kuparadze said.

A Russian deputy from the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, said in June that a technical feasibility study by a group of deputies had shown it was impossible to complete the withdrawal within the time set in the agreement.

Source: Xinhua