S.Ossetia Rehabilitation Program Formally Launched

A new international program for the economic rehabilitation of the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict zone was launched at an OSCE-chaired steering committee meeting in Tskhinvali on October 6.

Representatives of Georgian, South Ossetian and Russia?s North Ossetian sides, as well as officials from the OSCE, European Commission and the UN, and diplomats from the EU, Turkey and the U.S. participated in the meeting.

The meeting follows a donor conference in Brussels in June where more than 10 million euros was pledged in support of a package of projects for the social and economic rehabilitation of the region.

Priority projects relating to social infrastructure, roads, energy, agriculture, business and finance were the focus of the meeting.

The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht, welcomed the launch of the program and expressed hope that it will help build confidence between the conflicting parties.

“The meeting of the new Steering Committee is a sign that peace can be restored in the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict zone and the prospects of the population living there can be improved,” Karel De Gucht said.

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