Moscow Condemns Gas Cut to Russian Embassy
In a statement issued on January 29 the Russian Foreign Ministry slammed the Georgian authorities’ decision to cut off the gas supply to the Russian Embassy in Tbilisi and to the office of Gazprom’s subsidiary company Gazexport – also in Tbilisi – as “one more anti-Russian action.”
“The gas supply to the Russian Embassy in Georgian was suspended on January 27. In Moscow this was regarded as a consequence of an overall gas shortage in Tbilisi… But Tbilisi Mayor Gigi Ugulava stated on January 28 that he ordered the gas supply to the Embassy and Gazexport to be cut off,” the statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry reads.
The Tbilisi Mayor said at a news conference on Saturday that the gas supply was cut off to the Embassy and Gazexport’s office because “they are directly to blame for an energy blockade of Georgia.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry warned that the Russian side reserves the right to responded with similar measures and cut off the gas supply to the Georgia’s Embassy in Moscow.
Russia resumed its gas supply to Georgia on January 29 after restoration of the blown-up main pipeline in North Ossetia finished.
Answering the question of when gas supply will be resumed to the Russian Embassy in Tbilisi and to the office of Gazprom’s subsidiary Gazexport Irakli Gvichiani, a top executive of the gas distribution company in Tbilisi, said that “at the first stage it will be a priority to supply gas to those 2800 residential apartments in Tbilisi which are currently without gas and then to other facilities.” He also said that the gas supply to all the districts in Tbilisi will be resumed on January 30.
But later on January 29 Georgian and Russian news agencies reported that the gas supply was resumed to the Russian Embassy in Tbilisi.