Tskhinvali Condemns Tbilisi’s Annulment of Treaty on S.Ossetia
Authorities in breakaway South Ossetia said on June 22 that Tbilisi’s decision to annul an agreement with Russia on the economic rehabilitation of the conflict zone was “yet another unfriendly move.”
The Agreement on Interaction in Rehabilitation of the Economy in the the Georgian-Ossetian Conflict Zone and on Return of Refugees, signed by the Georgian and Russian governments in December 2000, was annulled by presidential decree on April 20. The disclosure, however, has only come to light now, three months later.
“The decision has confirmed once again Tbilisi’s constant failure to follow its commitments,” the foreign ministry of breakaway South Ossetia said in a statement.
It hoped, however, that Russia would continue funding rehabilitation programs in the region, despite Tbilisi’s decision to annul the agreement.
Tbilisi’s decision is seen as a sign of the Georgian side’s unease with Russian funding of certain programs in South Ossetia, which have been undertaken without prior agreement with the Georgian side.
The on-going construction of a gas pipeline linking breakaway South Ossetia with neighboring North Ossetia in Russia is particularly contentious.
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