Tskhinvali Vows to Invest USD 380 Thousand to Foster Business

Authorities in breakaway South Ossetia plan to invest 10 million Russian rubles (about USD 381 200) to foster small and medium business in the region, unrecognized republic?s Prime Minister Yuri Morozov said in an interview posted on the South Ossetian Press and Information Committee?s web-site on February 23.

?We will launch financing these projects to develop small enterprises starting from this March,? Morozov said without elaborating further details of the project.

Recently, the so called alternative authorities of South Ossetia, with headquarters in the Georgian village of Kurta in the conflict zone, announced about intentions to unveil a large-scale investment program aimed at infrastructure rehabilitation and development of small and medium business in the region.

The Georgian government announced on February 21 that it plans to allocate USD 3.5 million for infrastructure rehabilitation in its controlled areas of the breakaway region in 2007.

Prime Minister of breakaway South Ossetia Morozov also said that his government plans to consider privatization of ?state-owned enterprises and plot of land.?

?Although the privatization program has been developed, the document has not yet been approved by the government, so we have to approve this program in the near future? There have been cases when potential investors refused to invest in the state-owned enterprises,? Morozov said.

He also said that the South Ossetian authorities consider construction of ?a new mini hydro power plant? on the river of Didi Liakhvi at the Ossetian village of Gupta.

?We are holding negotiations over this project with [Russian electricity monopoly] UES and DagEnergo [UES-run electricity company in the Russia?s North Caucasian republic of Dagestan],? Morozov said.

He said that these talks have been protracted, ?but we will solve the issue this year.?

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)