Gazprom lauds pipeline in South Ossetia

TBILISI, Georgia, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Russian energy giant Gazprom plans to construct more natural gas pipelines in the breakaway Georgian republic of South Ossetia, deputy executives said.

Moscow and Nicaragua are the only two nations that recognize the independence of South Ossetia, which was the center of a territorial conflict between Tbilisi and Moscow in 2008.

Gazprom chief Alexei Miller joined Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at a meeting with South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity to discuss the details of the 105-mile Dzaurikau-Tskhinvali pipeline.

Construction on the $476 million pipeline stretching from the Dzaurikau village in North Ossetia to the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali began in 2006.

Alexander Ananenkov, deputy chief executive at Gazprom, said the energy giant and the Tskhinvali government agreed to form a joint venture to run a 43.6-mile leg of the pipeline. The deputy chief said the Tbilisi-Kutaisi trunk line for South Ossetia would be abandoned in favor of the Dzaurikau-Tskhinvali pipeline once it reaches full capacity, RIA Novosti reports.

He added Gazprom had plans to build more gas pipelines in South Ossetia for gas supplies for the next 100 years.

Georgia said in December that 2008 damage to the Agara-Tskhinvali pipeline caused disruptions to gas supplies to South Ossetia.

Georgia launched a military attack on the self-proclaimed Republic of South Ossetia in August 2008, sending ripples through the regional energy sector due to the proximity of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, the second longest in the world.