SOUTH OSSETIA IN RETURN FOR HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANT? PRESIDENTS VLADIMIR PUTIN AND MIKHAIL SAAKASHVILI COULD MEET THIS MONTH
by Yuri Simonjan, translated by A. Ignatkin

Agency WPS
Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, August 2, 2007, p. 6
What the Papers Say Part B
August 2, 2007 Thursday
Russia

Could Russia and Georgia do a deal on South Ossetia?; David Bakradze,
Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution, has said that
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili is ready and willing to meet
with President Vladimir Putin. Russia has three specific conditions
that Georgia must meet before relations can improve.

David Bakradze, Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution,
has said that Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili is ready and
willing to meet with President Vladimir Putin. "We are always ready
for discussion and dialogue, as President Saakashvili has demonstrated
repeatedly," Bakradze said. He added that details of the meeting are
still being discussed.

Sources at the Russian president’s press service declined to comment.

"We haven’t announced any such meeting," said one official, referring
all enquiries to Tbilisi. Zarina Gabiyeva, spokeswoman for the Russian
Embassy in Georgia, confirmed that Russian Ambassador Vyacheslav
Kovalenko views such a meeting as a distinct possibility in the
near future.

Given the problematic relationship between Moscow and Tbilisi,
it will certainly take negotiations at the highest possible level
to untangle the knot of problems and discord. Recognizing the need
to do something about hopelessly complicated bilateral relations,
Tbilisi nevertheless entertains the hope that the meeting of the two
presidents will allow for some progress in resolving the problem of
South Ossetia, one of the Georgia’s two major difficulties.

Mamuka Areshidze, director of the Caucasus Center of Strategic Studies
and member of the RIA-Novosti Expert Council, says that Putin and
Saakashvili are likely to focus on the same issues they discussed
at the St. Petersburg summit on June 10: "As far as I know, they
discussed Russian-Georgian rapprochement – if Georgia meets three
conditions. First: withdraw objections to WTO membership for Russia.

Second: Tbilisi’s consent for Iranian gas transit to Russia. Third:
transfer of the Inguri Hydroelectric Power Plant, partially located
in Abkhazia, to RAO Unified Energy Systems. Once all three conditions
are met, Tbilisi can count on Moscow’s assistance in dealing with
breakaway South Ossetia… Moscow used to insist that Tbilisi should
abandon its policy of pursuing NATO membership – but that is no longer
a condition."

Areshidze notes that Saakashvili moved on from St. Petersburg to
Paris in June, meeting with President Nicolas Sarkozy to enquire
whether France might be interested in building a nuclear power plant
in Georgia. Reportedly, Sarkozy said yes. "It was several days after
Saakashvili’s visit that the Georgian parliament suddenly started
arguing that it’s wrong to privatize the Inguri Hydroelectric Power
Plant," Areshidze said, calling this "some sort of maneuvering."

Bakradze’s predecessor, Georgy Khaindrava, informed us that no such
barter deals were being considered when he was managing negotiations
on Georgia’s behalf. According to Khaindrava, the terms of the
alleged deal should be considered from the standpoint of Georgia’s
interests. "Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization is
linked to our demand for Russia’s assistance in establishing proper
control on the Abkhazian and South Ossetian sectors of the Georgian
border. The matter concerns customs checkpoints on the Psou River
and at the entrance to the Rok Tunnel," said Khaindrava. "In fact,
this is Georgia’s only source of leverage with Russia when it comes
to restoring order along Georgia’s own borders. As for transit of
Iranian gas… why not? That’s cooperation between neighbors, nothing
wrong with that. Being neighbors, we should help each other out –
but the idea merits some serious thought, all the same, because the
opinion of the international community should be taken into account
as well. As for transferring ownership of the Inguri Hydroelectric
Power Plant, my opinion is that it would be wrong to increase our
energy dependence on a state that chooses the language of force in
its dialogue with Georgia."

Georgian lawmakers are also in favor of a meeting between the
presidents. Kote Gabashvili, chairman of the Georgian parliament’s
foreign affairs committee, says he knows that efforts to arrange
such a meeting are under way, but claims that this it is all he
knows. "I certainly hope some progress will finally be made. I hope
that representatives of Russia will join our efforts to define the
status of South Ossetia and therefore validate their aspirations
for the role of peacekeepers," said Gabashvili. "As for the three
reported conditions for the process of rapprochement to begin, I’d
say it resembles a dialogue… In my view, the first two conditions
are open to discussion. As for the Inguri power plant, it reminds me
of the ‘Armenian scenario’ – enterprises being taken over by Russian
companies. In any case, we are prepared to discuss everything at the
talks once the formal proposals are announced."

The self-proclaimed and unrecognized Republic of South Ossetia remains
blissfully unaware of the possibility of Russian-Georgian top-level
talks. "Practically nothing is known about the meeting, but South
Ossetias certainly hope that our case will be raised and discussed,"
says South Ossetian government spokeswoman Irina Gagloyeva. "The
PR campaign Georgia launched to promote its so-called provisional
administration and portray it as a promoter of a certain political
view and opinion is indirect evidence that the issue of South Ossetia
will be discussed. How this discussion proceeds and how objective
the information released by the Georgians proves to be is a different
matter, of course."