Georgy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
During a campaign rally in Gori, the future prime minister Ivanishvili promised the residents of the city and of the whole Shida Kartli region neighboring South Ossetia, that if he won he would restore the vast Ergneti market on the border between Georgia and South Ossetia. His promise was heartily welcomed by the residents.
Advisers to the leader of the "Georgian Dream" coalition have chosen a good promise for the residents, but its realization after the elections proved to be much more difficult than preparing a spectacular speech, repeatedly interrupted by applause. The Ergneti market is a unique peace project, which developed without any political interference. That is why it is worthy of careful research by experts dealing with other conflict regions. In 1992, after three years of the Georgian-Ossetian war, a tripartite peacekeeping force headed by Russian paratroopers entered the region.
It seemed that no reconciliation was possible, since there were too many victims on both sides. The "political status" was not discussed, because it seemed impossible to reconcile incompatible positions. However, to the surprise of many, people who had recently been hostile to each other were able to co-operate on the basis of mercantile reasons: everyone wanted to work and everyone wanted to provide a decent life for their children and Georgian and Ossetian societies found it necessary to make it happen.
There was strong consensus on both sides. In some other conflict zones it was impossible. At the end of 1992, there were signs of recovery in trade between residents of neighboring Georgian and Ossetian villages. Over the course of time a small organized market emerged in the village of Ergneti. Mercury and Mars were able to reach a compromise in this forsaken place. The market was gradually expanding without government intervention, assuming the character of a regional "hub" where people traded from other parts of Georgia and North Ossetia. Moreover, traders from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Dagestan, and even Rostov came to Ergneti. Fuel, manufactured goods, tobacco, vodka, flour and other goods were brought from Russia to the peculiar "free economic zone". Citrus fruits, apples, grapes, wine and herbs came from the South.
Ergneti soon became the largest market in the Caucasus. Every day thousands of people came there. People sometimes argued, could not agree on prices, but Mercury the god of commerce forced them to compromise. Certainly, there were large-scale scandals, such as the delivery of contraband alcohol through South Ossetia to the Russian Federation. It is possible that not only the government but also some members of the peacekeeping force were involved in this lucrative business. But those who are accustomed to a black and white perspective also have to look at the other side of the story. And there was peace.
Starting from about 1997 the International Monetary Fund became concerned in relation to persistent problems in the Georgian budget. Major donors to the Georgian economy demanded to "explore", "fix", "stop" the crisis. According to the opinion of the majority, one of the main reasons for the crisis in the Georgian economy was the inability of the state to protect the domestic market from "unaccounted goods", meaning contraband. Formally, all goods at the Ergneti market were contraband. But Shevardnadze was a very cautious politician. He chose to spoil relations with the IMF, and even put up with thenickname of a "failed state" rather than eliminate the unique peace project, which reconciled enemies.
Everything changed after the "Rose Revolution" in 2003: the new Georgian authorities declared war on corruption and smuggling. One has to admit that formally they were right: in fact, Ergneti indeed made the establishment of "civilized" trade rules difficult and made competition and business investment almost impossible. These issues were raised repeatedly during the Russian-Georgian consultations in 1990. At that time Moscow tried to persuade Georgia that its accession to the common customs zone with Russia will be a solution. Naturally, in this case, the problem of "smuggling in Ergneti" would disappear on its own and a joint economic border between Russia and Georgia would be located on the outer perimeter of the Georgian border. But this solution, in fact, meant the delegation of important powers to Moscow which could lead to the rejection of sovereignty and Shevardnadze decided to leave it as it was.
The thawing of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict in 2004 began after Saakashvili's administration first restricted trade, and then completely eliminated the Ergneti market. As a result, the country's budget increased fourfold in the next 3 years, but a major war was inevitable, after the backbone of peace collapsed.
There is a category of ordinary people and analysts who always try to find the cause of a failure of a process in the errors or the bad will of politicians. However, in this case we are not dealing with an evil mind of the president and his team, but a fundamental contradiction between the interests of national Georgian statehood and peace keeping in a conflict zone. That is why it is hard to say whether it is possible to restore the Ergneti market. When the new government of Georgia does not want to even consider the possibility of joining the Eurasian Customs Union and continues to develop Georgian statehood in line with NATO projects, the answer is no. There will be no "Ergneti market" any more. The project became the victim of a contradiction, which cannot be overcome by compromise in the current atmosphere.
