Gas, Electricity Shortages Continue Afflicting Georgia
Gas, electricity shortages continue afflicting Georgia
MOSCOW, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) — The shortage of natural gas and electricity continued afflicting Georgia amid an unusual cold snap on Thursday, with slow progress in repairs to a major pipeline carrying gas from Russia and a power cut caused by bad weather.
Strong winds and heavy snows downed power lines in western Georgia overnight, leaving about 3 million people in the dark, reports reaching here said.
Most of Tbilisi, capital of the Caucasus country, was also left without electricity after a gas-powered unit at a power station shut down under the strain of having to work at full capacity.
There was a rush for alternative heating means, including gas cylinders and kerosene burners, as the heating systems across much of Tbilisi remained largely inactive and freezing temperatures still lingered.
Repairs to the Mozdok-Tbilisi pipeline linking Russia and Georgia that was blasted on Sunday were continuing, but engineers discovered further damage that requires replacement of an additional pipeline section, the Itar-Tass news agency quoted an official with Russia’s energy giant Gazprom as saying.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, who had earlier accused Russia of being behind the gas pipeline explosions, complained on Wednesday about the slow progress in repairing the pipeline.
“It is taking a suspiciously long time to put this gas pipeline back into service,” said Saakashvili in televised remarks.
Russia rejected as “hysterical” Saakashvili’s accusation of deliberate sabotage aimed at pressuring Georgia. The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office called the pipeline explosions an act of terror on Wednesday.
The natural gas pipelines in the southern Russian region of North Ossetia exploded at 3:00 a.m. (0000GMT) on Sunday, cutting off gas supplies to Georgia and Armenia.
Later in the day, another blast hit a high-power electricity transmission tower west of North Ossetia, causing interruption to electricity supplies to Georgia.