Translated material
If there is no water in the tap
Russian diplomat will talk with Tbilisi and Tskhinvali
Co-chairman of the Joint Control Commission (JCC) for the Georgian-Ossetian settlement, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador at Large Yuri Popov arrived in Tbilisi yesterday for consultations with Georgians and Ossetians and the possible organization of their negotiations. Press attache of the Russian Embassy in Georgia Zarina Gabieva told Vremya Novostey that today and tomorrow it is proposed to hold a meeting in Tskhinvali in the JCC format, which brings together representatives of Tbilisi, Tskhinvali, Vladikavkaz and Moscow. Yesterday, Mr. Popov said that the South Ossetian side agrees to holding such a meeting, “the Georgian side does not object in principle, but puts forward several conditions that we will consider in working order.”Yuri Popov makes an emergency visit to Georgia for the second time in a month. The situation around South Ossetia is extremely tense . A new problem has become the water supply system that supplies drinking water to the capital of the unrecognized republic with a population of 40,000. The pipe runs through Georgian villages. In Tskhinvali they claim that due to its artificial damage, there has been no water in the city for the 15th day. The office of the Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution told Vremya Novostei that the water pipeline was damaged in the separatist-controlled Dzhava region of South Ossetia, therefore the accusations against the Georgian side are unjustified. At the same time, South Ossetia itself allegedly blocked two water pipelines and two irrigation canals that lead to areas of the self-proclaimed republic populated by Georgians, as well as to neighboring regions of Georgia. The parties also accuse each other of carrying out military engineering work, building fortifications and concentrating armed forces in the conflict zone.
The Chairman of the Press and Information Committee of South Ossetia, Irina Gagloeva, told VN that North Ossetian specialists arrived in Tskhinvali to solve the problem of drinking water. Four artesian wells are being drilled, a new water supply system is being urgently designed, which will pass only through Ossetian villages, and facilities are being installed to purify river water. In the meantime, water is delivered by water trucks, including to medical institutions, schools, and kindergartens.