Georgians shivered without gas and power on Saturday in the coldest winter for a decade as officials rushed to secure new gas supplies from Iran. Georgia was left without gas after explosions last Sunday at a pipeline in Russia. The blasts also cut a major power line and on Thursday high winds severed another cable leaving the country without electricity, according to Reuters. New gas supplies from Iran would arrive by Sunday night at the earliest, officials said, but it might take days for the gas to flow through pipes to reach Georgians, who are trying to keep warm around makeshift wood-burning stoves. Georgia, a Caucasus state of 4.5 million on the Black Sea, agreed with Iran on Friday to bring gas via neighbouring Azerbaijan, but it was unclear if the additional supply could cover demand in the coldest winter for a decade. Supplies from Russia are still cut, cooling relations between Moscow and Tbilisi even further. President Mikhail Saakashvili, who rose to power on the back of the "Rose Revolution" in 2003, has accused Russia of deliberately blowing up the gas pipeline and then dragging its heels over repairing it to put pressure on Georgia. Moscow denied the allegation, accused Tbilisi of hysteria and said it was doing everything to repair the pipeline. Saakashvili has been able to deflect discontent at the blackouts by blaming Russia, which many Georgians believe is trying to use its massive energy resources as a geo-political instrument to enforce its influence in the former Soviet Union.
