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Tuesday,
July 24,
2007, #139 (1406)
The beer company Kazbegi is investing around GEL 500 000 in South Ossetia, working hand-in-hand with the temporary administrative unit of the conflict zone. Five projects are in the pipeline: building a trade center and a fruit processing plant, developing beekeeping and cattle-breeding, and processing raw construction materials. Kazbegi has already put in GEL 200 000, with the remaining GEL 300 000 to be allotted over the next three years. The investment came after an April meeting between Kazbegi owner Gogi Topadze and head of the South Ossetian temporary administration Dmitry Sanakoyev. “I think that the economy has to be developed with the infrastructure in the region…and the conflict will be solved where life is good. The quality of life has to be improved, and it won’t improve if the economy isn’t good. Peaceful resolution has to follow economic development,” Topadze told The Messenger. Kazbegi spokeswoman Tea Skhiereli explained that priorities and plans for investments are drawn up by the Tbilisi-backed temporary South Ossetia administration, and then presented to the companies which then transfer money to finance the projects. “We have reviewed five projects chosen by the tender commission; we liked them, supported them and transferred the money,” Topadze said. Topadze added that despite the inherent risk of doing business in a conflict zone, it’s a smart move all things considered. The Kazbegi spokeswoman suggested that her company is laying the groundwork for future projects in the Tskhinvali region. “We’ve formed good relations, but for now everything is of an assistance-based nature. However, it’s possible that in the future the company will have its own business interests in the region,” she said. |
Kazbegi Latest Suitor for South Ossetian Provisional Administration
