Interfax, Russia
Aug 22 2008

MOSCOW HOPES RUSSIANS WILL BE FREE TO LEAVE GEORGIA

MOSCOW Aug 22

Moscow hopes that in the future the Georgian authorities will no
longer prevent Russians from leaving Georgia, said Russian Foreign
Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko.

"Georgia received a tough warning of the unacceptability of any
attempts to prevent Russians from leaving the country, which had a due
effect. We expect Georgian authorities to strictly adhere to their
given assurances," he told journalists on Thursday.

The text of his answers to the media was posted on the website of the
Russian Foreign Ministry.

As soon as Georgia began its aggression against South Ossetia, the
Russian Embassy in Tbilisi started receiving many complaints from
Russians who had difficulty in leaving Georgia, especially after air
traffic stopped between the two countries, the diplomat said.

By now the problem has been partially resolved, Nesterenko said.

Russian citizens can leave Georgia, first of all, through Armenia (by
motor transport, including a shuttle bus to Yerevan, and subsequently
by airplane) and through Turkey (Trabzon and Istanbul), he said.

There are also flights between Tbilisi and Kyiv, and from Tbilisi to
Baku, which resumed on August 16, the diplomat said.

"Russia, for its part, took necessary steps to provide every possible
help to its citizens in Georgia," Nesterenko said.

The Russian Embassy in Tbilisi is taking contact phone numbers from
citizens who asked for help, and through organizations of ethnic
Russians in Tbilisi, Batumi and Kutaisi which are also distributing
information on how Russians can leave the country, he said.

"The branch of the organization of ethnic Russians in Batumi and the
Russian Consulate General in Tranzon (Turkey) have organized trips for
Russians from the western part of Georgia," Nesterenko said.

According to the plan, the organization will register all Russians who
until now were unable to leave the country, while the Consulate
General will assist by booking a ferry from Trabzon to Sochi.

The next group of Russians will depart from Batumi to Trabzon on
August 22, Nesterenko said.

*** ROSTOV-ON-DON. Aug 22 (Interfax) – Over the past 24 hours, 330
Russian returning from Georgia have passed through the Verkhny Lars
border checkpoint on the Russian border.

"330 Russian citizens have returned from Georgia to Russia through the
Verkhny Lars border checkpoint as of 05.30 a.m. Moscow time on
Friday. Georgian border guards received five Georgians who wished to
go back to their home country from Russia," spokesman for the Russian
Federal Security Service (FSB) Border Guard Department for the
Southern Federal District Sergei Livantsov told Interfax on Friday.

Cooperation with Georgian border checkpoints to help Russians to
return from Georgia continues, he said.

"Hopefully, both countries’ border guard authorities will continue
their constructive cooperation on helping Russians and Georgians cross
the border," Livantsov said.

Many Russians who are returning home had traveled to Georgia on
vacation, to visit their relatives or on business.

The Verkhny Lars checkpoint on the Russian-Georgian national border
had been closed for reconstruction, however "in these days it
continues its work as an exception in order to help Russians who found
themselves in a difficult situation in the Georgia-controlled area,"
the official said.

"Some of our fellow countrymen have no money, some were left without
documents. All these matters are been considered by Russian border
guards as required by Russian law and are treated with understanding,"
Livantsov said.

Most Russians are leaving Georgia through nearby countries, in
particular, by ferry from the Georgian port of Poti to the Turkish
port of Trabzon. From there Russians continue their journey toward the
Russian coast where they will be met by Russian border guards,
Livantsov said.

The Nizhny Zaramag border checkpoint on the Trans-Caucasus road in
North Ossetia is working 24 hours a day, he said. It serves as a
border crossing point for Russians going from South Ossetia and those
who go back to the republic.

"A large quantity of humanitarian aid and construction materials for
South Ossetia is passing through Nizhny Zaramag these days. Apart from
the returning residents of South Ossetia, teams of specialists are
also heading to the republic to rebuild Tskhinvali. According to our
estimates, checks are being carried out on average for three or four
persons per minute at the Russian border," Livantsov said.