The State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, ratified the agreement October 6, in line with documents signed by Russia and Georgia in March 2006 in Sochi.
Vadim Gustov, chairman of the upper house committee for CIS affairs, said the agreement, which has already been ratified by the Russian parliament, regulates the temporary operation and ultimate withdrawal of Russian military units on Georgian territory.
He said under the agreement, Russia must withdraw military hardware from the southern city of Akhalkalaki by the end of 2006. Russian troops and the rest of its military hardware must be withdrawn by December 31, 2007, which is also the deadline for the handover of Russian military facilities to Georgia.
"The withdrawal of the Russian military base in [the western city of] Batumi and the [Tbilisi] headquarters of the Russian group of forces in the Caucasus will be completed in 2008," Gustov said.
He said Russia and Georgia have established a joint commission in Tbilisi to settle disputed issues.
Russia intends to allocate 836.7 million rubles ($31 million) in 2006 and 1.331 billion rubles ($49.4 million) in 2007-2008 to implement the agreement, the senator added.
Alexei Maslov, the commander of the Russian Land Forces, said at the Federation Council's session that a number of Russian servicemen withdrawn from bases in Georgia will serve in mountain brigades in the Caucasus republics of Karachayevo-Cherkessia and Daghestan.
He said the formation of the brigades is 80-85% complete.
