Expert: Georgia lost all its friends in Caucasus

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Ex-South Ossetian Economy Minister Gennady Kokoyev has given an interview to a REGNUM correspondent.

REGNUM: Mr Kokoyev, today we are witness to deterioration in the Russian-Georgian relations. Georgia accused Russia of deliberate diversions at gas pipelines. How do you think, will it affect political relations of Georgia and South Ossetia, which is also left without gas today? Will South Ossetia become a part of gas and therefore a political crisis?

It should be noted that Georgians have it in their blood, to start accusing either Russia or Ossetia in everything. We all do remember, how last year Ossetians were accused of staging blasts of electric power lines in Georgia and a terror act in Gori (a Georgian town not far from Tskhinvali — REGNUM). The same thing can be seen today. How can a state leader make such statements when there are no results of the investigation, we do not know who was initiator and executor of the diversions. The scene is adjacent to Ingushetia, it could have been done by extremists in the long run. I think, Georgian allegations towards Russia are just incorrect. Georgia should not forget that Caucasus has its own world, its own mentality, and Georgia thanks to its short-sighted has lost all its friends in North Caucasus and in a part of Transcaucasus. As for whether the current state of affairs can deteriorate the political situation over South Ossetia, I don’t think so. Georgia has never tried to stabilize its relations with Georgia with South Ossetia. I don’t think that subversive acts on the Russian-Georgian gas pipeline would influence on relations of Georgia and South Ossetia.

REGNUM: Today, Georgia simultaneously with accusing Russia of diversions is expressing its ideas that the Russian peacekeepers in Abkhazia and South Ossetia are useless and inactive. Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili accuses the peacekeepers of staging terror acts, illegal arms trafficking and threatens, by the way, to support the accusations by documents.

South Ossetia has repeatedly announced that the peacekeeping forces are guaranteeing stability in the conflict zone, although I can give another definition: it is not a conflict zone; it is the zone of Georgian aggression against South Ossetia. Withdrawal of the peacekeepers will do no good to our territory. Georgia should not labor under a delusion that by a decision of its parliament it can withdraw peacekeepers from South Ossetia. It is well known that neither Georgia nor its parliament deployed the peacekeepers in South Ossetia, so they are not to decide whether to withdraw them. Today, all the rest forces, North and South Ossetia, Russia, do categorically oppose to withdrawal of the Blue Helmets. Georgia should not labor a delusion either that even if it succeeds in withdrawing the peacekeepers, it will soon cope with South Ossetia. Russia is a stabilizing factor not only in South Ossetia but in Georgia too. There is nothing bad in it. Without Russia, Georgia would have stopped its existence long ago and disintegrated to small counties. Russia has repeatedly saved Georgians and one should not forget about it. And Mr. Okruashvili and company should undergo a psychiatric examination.

REGNUM: Probably, today, when South Ossetia was left without gas itself, the question of construction a gas pipeline from North Ossetia to South Ossetia becomes vital again…

The question has been vital for us all the time. Gas supplies directly from Russia will be an economically expedient measure. Please, note that South Ossetia is very disciplined and solvent in paying for gas and electricity. Georgia can have debts to Gazprom of many millions, and no one threatens to cut it off. And in case South Ossetia owes some pennies to Georgia, it immediately threatens with a cut-off.