Tbilisi-Loyal S.Ossetia ‘Government’ Steps in on ‘Tangerine Crisis’

The Tbilisi-backed South Ossetian alternative authorities announced on January 10 that they will purchase tangerines from those South Ossetian merchants who have failed to sell their produce in Russia.

The announcement is seen as the first major move by the so-called alternative authorities, which were installed in the Georgian villages of the breakaway region in November, 2006, to win the favor of South Ossetians.

About 60 trucks loaded with tangerines purchased in western Georgia by South Ossetian merchants with the intention to sell them in Russia were trapped at the border crossing point in Nizhniy Zaramag in Russia’s North Ossetia after being barred from entering the Russian Federation. A Russian ban on imports of Georgian agricultural products has been in force for over a year. The trucks were forced to return to South Ossetia on January 9.

“Taking into account the difficult situation, our government has decided to support entrepreneurs from South Ossetia and buy the entire amount of tangerines under the wholesale market price,” Uruzmag Karkusov, who acts as the prime minister of the alternative authorities, said at a news conference on January 10.

Kote Kevlishvili, the minister in charge of agriculture, said that a special commission has been set up to oversee the process.

He said that the South Ossetian alternative authorities will purchase the tangerines from South Ossetian merchants, which is about 500-600 tons. GEL 3 million will reportedly be needed to purchase the entire amount.

“We will then decide what to do with the purchased tangerines,” Kevlishvili said at a news conference.

Sources of funding for the initiative remain unclear.

The Tskhinvali-based South Ossetian authorities accused the Georgian “special services” of being behind the crisis that erupted on the Nizhniy Zaramag border crossing point. Boris Chochiev, deputy prime minister of the breakaway authorities, said the move was aimed at discrediting the Tskhinvali-based authorities.

He also hailed the decision of the Russian authorities not to let South Ossetian merchants cross the border. “Imports of Georgian agricultural products are banned in Russia and everyone should be equal before the law,” he said.

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