Translated material
Not those "Mi"
Georgia fell under the smuggling blade
Military-technical cooperation between Russia and Georgia, interrupted several years ago for political reasons , can be carried out covertly and in private. This is evidenced by the fact that Rostov law enforcement agencies detained military cargo intended for Georgia.According to Russian operatives, a company registered in Dagestan exported spare parts for civilian Mi-8 helicopters to Georgia. In fact, these spare parts were intended for combat Mi-24 . As the press service of the Southern Operational Customs of the Russian Federation reported, we are talking about the supply of rotor blades for combat helicopters under the guise of blades for civilian vehicles. However, special transportation rules have been established for military-technical cargo, which were violated.
The violating company “not only caused economic damage to the state, but also created the preconditions for building up Georgia’s military potential and contributed to the escalation of tension in the Caucasus region,” Russian customs officials noted. The Rostov prosecutor's office opened a criminal case under the article "smuggling", which provides for imprisonment for a term of three to seven years and a fine of up to 1 million rubles.
After four Russian officers were detained in Tbilisi in the fall of 2006 on suspicion of espionage, then Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov announced that all military-technical cooperation with Georgia was being interrupted . These words caused bewilderment in Tbilisi. Vremya Novostey's sources in the Georgian Ministry of Defense claim that there has been no military-technical cooperation between Russia and Georgia for several years. Tbilisi has long reoriented itself towards the countries of Eastern Europe, and the most powerful support in equipping the Georgian army is provided by the United States, which has allocated approximately $150 million for this purpose over the past four years.
The power of Georgia's air defense forces can be judged by last year's Independence Day parade on May 26. It featured nine Su-25 attack aircraft, nine Mi-24 combat helicopters, 16 Mi-8 units, several Mi-14s and six multi-purpose Iroquois aircraft donated by the Americans under President Eduard Shevardnadze.
“The question of how to repair or where to get spare parts for Soviet or Russian-made equipment is natural,” Koba Liklikadze, a military observer at the Tbilisi bureau of Radio Liberty, told VN. - Basically, such equipment, which is in service with the Georgian army, is repaired at the corresponding Ukrainian enterprises. If current repairs are necessary, then Ukrainian specialists come to Georgia. In my memory, the last fact of military-technical cooperation with Russia was the arrival of Russian specialists in Poti in 1997 to repair air defense systems.”
The head of the Georgian Ministry of Defense Department for Media and Public Relations, Nana Intskirveli, told VN that assumptions about the Georgian military department purchasing spare parts from Russia are “frivolous and absurd.” Commenting on the information from Russian customs, First Deputy Minister of Defense of Georgia Levan Nikoleishvili in an interview with the Rustavi-2 television company emphasized: “When modernizing the army, purchasing equipment and equipment, the Ministry of Defense works only with official structures and with those countries with which it has partnerships, but this not Russia, especially some absurd company in Dagestan. Georgia cooperates only with the most serious companies and organizations of serious countries.” According to Mr. Nikoleishvili, this information is “provocative” and may be aimed at “discrediting the Georgian armed forces.”
And yet, Tbilisi is not 100% sure that Georgia is not involved in the “helicopter scandal.” In an interview with VN, defense and security expert Irakli Sesiashvili said: “This may not be about commercial contacts at the state level, it may be smuggling of private individuals. It cannot be ruled out that someone could have lost some spare parts and then tried to bypass government agencies to negotiate with Russian suppliers to make up for the loss.”