Russian military slam Georgia over restricted transit

RIA Novosti
October 06, 2006

MOSCOW, October 6 (RIA Novosti) – Only 10 percent of the applications
Russia made to Georgia concerning troop and hardware transit through
the country in 2006 were approved by Tbilisi, a high-ranking Russian
military officer said Friday.

Under a bilateral agreement signed in March 2006 in Sochi, Russia
transits its military cargo and personnel through Georgia in support
of the 102nd Russian military base in Armenia.

"Only nine out of 88 applications for overflights were approved in
2006," Colonel-General Alexander Skvortsov, deputy chief of the General
Staff, said, adding the remaining requests were ignored by Tbilisi.

The Russian 102nd military base in Gyumri, about 120 kilometers
(75 miles) from the Armenian capital Yerevan, is part of a joint air
defense system of the Commonwealth of Independent States, which was
deployed in Armenia in 1995.

Skvortsov told Russian lawmakers that at the moment the Russian base
in Armenia is being supplied exclusively by air.

"Russia does not use land routes through Georgia, but only air transit
to deliver troops and hardware to the 102nd military base," he said.

He said the situation is not extremely urgent, because previously
stored supplies allow the base to function normally for now.

But the situation could change in the future if the need for supplies
grows, he said.

Part of the military equipment being removed from Russian bases in
Georgia will be transferred to the Gyumri base when Russia completes
its withdrawal from Akhalkalaki and Batumi by the end of 2008.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress