Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Georgia

Georgia Accuses Gazprom Of 'Blackmail'

Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli (file photo) (AFP)

November 8, 2006 -- Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli has accused Russia of "political blackmail" following a threat by Gazprom to halt supplies if Georgia fails to agree to a new, higher gas price.

TEXT SIZE - +

November 08, 2006

Noghaideli told a cabinet meeting today that his government is conducting negotiations with other countries on gas supplies.

The Georgian state minister for coordination of economic reforms, Kakha Bendukidze, denounced Russia for demanding a higher price from Georgia than from other former Soviet republics, saying that "during the previous round of talks... it had been agreed that the price of gas would be the same for all consumers in the Southern Caucasus."

Gazprom wants Georgia to pay $230 per 1,000 cubic meters, up from $110 now, and the head of Gazprom, Aleksandr Medvedev, on November 7 said Georgia could offer assets to guarantee lower prices.

Parliamentary Speaker Nino Burjanadze today said Georgia will not sell its trunk gas pipeline to Russia. The pipeline is also used to transport Russian gas to Armenia.

Opposition lawmakers urged the government to seek a compromise to avoid supplies being cut off.

(Rustavi-2, Interfax)

Moscow And Tbilisi

Russian military hardware being withdrawn from a Russian base in Batumi, Georgia, in August 2005 (TASS)

WHAT COMES NEXT? Although Russia is unlikely to push an aggressive military response to the current tensions with Georgia, it has a number of economic, political, and diplomatic options at its disposal. Already on October 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin summoned his inner circle to weigh Moscow's options... (more)

Russia Says Georgia Sanctions Will Continue

Russia Suspends Transport, Postal Links To Georgia

EU Commissioner Urges Dialogue With Moscow

Ulterior Motives Seen Behind Escalation Of Spy Row

Georgia Turns Russians Over To OSCE

MORE: Coverage of the situation in Georgian from RFE/RL's Georgian Service and in Russian from RFE/RL's Russian Service.

ARCHIVE

RFE/RL's English-language coverage of Georgia and Russia.

President Serzh Sarkisian has promised fair elections

Prospect Of Vote-Rigging Overshadows Upcoming Armenian Parliamentary Election

The Armenian parliamentary elections due in May will not simply be a struggle between rival political parties with diverging priorities and platforms. More

Alla Dzhioyeva attends a protest by her supporters in Tskhinvali on January 28.

South Ossetian Opposition Leader Hospitalized After Raid

Alla Dzhioyeva, the opposition candidate whose victory in a runoff ballot in November for de facto president of Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia was swiftly annulled by the republic's Supreme Court, was taken to a hospital after a raid by some 200 masked security personnel on her headquarters in Tskhinvali. More

Former KGB head Leonid Tibilov is a presidential hopeful.

Repeat South Ossetian Election Campaign Gathers Momentum

The run-up to the repeat election on March 24 for a new de facto president of Georgia's breakaway Republic of South Ossetia bears an uncanny resemblance to last November's election campaign. More