Please also add comments to our blog:
http://united-georgia.blogspot.com/
See also our web pages :
http://fahlerfantastica.freehostia.com/default.htm
http://dimitri-sanakoev.freehostia.com/default.htm
16.01.09 10:08
Russias military aggression against Georgia and the occupation of Georgian territories in August 2008 caused the serious damage of the Agara-Tskhinvali gas pipeline. As a result, natural gas supply to the population of the Tskhinvali region was cut off (see the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia of 31 December 2008).
On the initiative of the Georgian side, monitoring of the full length of the pipeline is now underway in order to identify damages and ensure their further repair. International monitors are actively involved in this process as well. Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Charalambos Christopoulos attended by a respective OSCE expert arrived in the region to explore the situation on the spot.
It needs to be emphasized that the Russian side is still pursuing its campaign of demagogy in order to politicize the issue and shift the blame to the Georgian side. The actual reality, however, is that efforts of Georgian, Ossetian and international experts to pump natural gas into the pipeline ended in failure on 31 December 2008, due to substantial damage of the pipeline. The Russian side deliberately avoids discussing this issue though the OSCE Mission has duly confirmed the fact of damage.
It should be stressed that based on the Greek side-provided information, the OSCE expert during his visit to Tskhinvali on 13 January was able to check only the Tskhinvali natural gas distributing station. Under the pretext of bad weather conditions, the proxy regime denied the OSCE expert access thus preventing him from checking the whole length of the pipeline running through the occupied territory. Taking note of this fact, the statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry that OSCE experts got allegedly convinced of the absence of damages to the pipeline running through the occupied territory is simply immoral and a blatant lie.
The Georgian side hopes that through the mediation efforts of the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, all pipeline damages on both sides of the administrational border will be detected and repaired on an urgent basis. Subsequently, it will become possible to restore natural gas supply to the Tskhinvali region in compliance with technical safety norms. The Georgian side has again reaffirmed its full readiness to cooperate with OSCE on the aforesaid issues expressing its consent to the proposals indicated in a letter of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia calls on the Russian side and its proxy regime in Tskhinvali to provide OSCE experts with proper security guarantees thus allowing them to study thoroughly the section of the Agara-Tskhinvali gas pipeline running through the occupied territory and to repair all damages in case they are detected.
It should be underlined that Georgia attaches a great importance to the need of providing proper living conditions to its own citizens still residing in the region despite the fact that the Tskhinvali region is occupied by the Russian side and practically cleansed of the peaceful population.
Loading...
2:24Russian foreign ministerby bugahorror124 views
Link to this comment:
All Comments (0)