Gas supply to Tskhinval has been cut off altogether, Itar-Tass quoted Chief engineer of the South Ossetian Energetika enterprise Nugzar Tabiyev as saying. “Repairs are going on at the Agara-Tskhinval gas pipeline,” said representatives of Itera- Gruzia company. Therefore, gas supply to Tskhinval has been cut off for 17 hours, they said. The Ossetian side had been insisting on repairs in the Georgian section of the pipeline since early February. The supplies of Russian gas to South Ossetia through Georgia were resumed on January 25, 2009 after almost half a year break. Several days after gas supply was resumed gas pressure in the pipeline dropped to a very low level. By Tuesday morning it was barely sufficient to meet only 20 percent of the overall demand, said Director of Energetika enterprise Alana Gabarayeva. Meanwhile, representatives of Itera Gruzia company responsible for deliveries of Russian gas to South Ossetia reported that they had been doing their work and assured that all the problem areas of the gas pipeline would be repaired.
