A few days ago Russian border guards and the border authorities of South Ossetia appeared in the Georgian villages of Khurvaleti and Orchosani. They found a large banner with the words 'Republic of South Ossetia', and warned local residents that they should not violate the border, otherwise they would be arrested. 'Abroad' there is the arable land of these villages. The farmers have asked permission to harvest this year, they got generous permission, but on the condition that it is for "the last time."
Basically, nothing new is happening there: for two years the authorities of South Ossetia, with the help of the Russian border guards stationed in the country, have carried out work on the demarcation of the border which they consider to be the state border, and in Tbilisi this is called the 'line of occupation'. But despite the different names, the real situation 'on the ground' does not change. In some areas, border guards are installing barbed wire. The Georgian authorities are protesting, shouting about "creeping occupation," referring to the humanitarian problems arising from the local population (even rural cemeteries are on the other side of the border), but they cannot influence the citation.
The mission of the EU observers that monitor the Georgian side of the border in accordance with the Sarkozy-Medvedev agreement of August 12th 2008 record what is happening, but their mandate does not include intervening in the situation. They only transmit information to Brussels, where they 'shrug', promising the Georgian diplomats that they will consider the issue at the next round of the Geneva talks on security. And, for the umpteenth time, without result.
The current phase of 'border demarcation' has attracted attention for the reason that, as a result of work carried out by the Russian border guards and representatives of the South Ossetian authorities, part of the Baku-Supsa pipeline was on territory controlled by Tskhinvali.
The Baku-Supsa oil pipeline is the first pipeline of the entire communications system, according to agreements in Baku and Tbilisi back in the 1990s. In capacity, it is, of course, not comparable with the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline, which paved the way to the south. But the Baku-Supsa pipeline is an important link instated in the communication system, because the oil is pumped through it, has been contracted for a long time and any problems could strike at the interests of the British company BP, which owns the pipeline.
Tbilisi hopes that, given the prestige and influence of the British energy giant, there is nothing wrong that can happen to the pipeline. A source in the Ministry of Energy explained to Vestnik Kavkaza why the Georgian authorities do not expect serious complications in this area: "Shutting down the passage of oil is technically impossible – the valve is in a different place. You can, of course, blow up the pipeline, but that would be too aggressive a move on the part of South Ossetia, and absolutely useless, and above all, pointless. "
It is possible that the South Ossetian side will try to get some of the oil as 'transit fees', but the owners of the pipeline (and the Georgian authorities) are unlikely to agree to this. In this case, they will block the pipeline and raise uproar in the international arena.
Of course, in the Western capitals few people care about the fate of the unfortunate inhabitants of Khurvaleti or other Georgian villages left without their farmland or cemeteries. Another thing is the interests of BP, which has the resources to stand up for itself. Moreover, against the background of the Ukrainian crisis, for Moscow it is clearly not beneficial to hype up a trifling matter, "not worth the trouble." For the moment, at least. The South Ossetian partners have probably been asked not to touch the pipeline. As a last resort, the Minister of Energy Kakha Kaladze stated, "there is a plan to adjust the route of the pipeline," which means the construction of a new branch outside the territory of South Ossetia.
Why have problems arisen at a time when the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Grigory Karasin, and yspecial envoy of the Prime Minister of Georgia, Zurab Abashidze, are preparing for the next meeting in Prague to discuss important issues for the further settlement of Russian-Georgian relations? Note that the situation on the border is often exacerbated on days when Moscow and Tbilisi are trying to establish a dialogue.
The opposition believes that Russia in this way is trying to put pressure on the Georgian side to make concessions. This version is silly, frankly speaking: what is happening in Khurvaleti and Orchosani caused such a strong reaction in the country that the demand from Abashidze did not go to Prague. He promises to begin a dialogue with Karasin on the topic and not to discuss any other issues (including Russia-Armenia railway communication) as long as he doesn't receive a concrete answer from his Russian counterpart to the question of why Russian border guards are acting this way, but not otherwise.
