GEORGIA'S conflict with Russia had caused about $US2 billion ($2.3 billion) worth of damage in his country, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili claimed in an interview published yesterday.
Mr Saakashvili told the Financial Times that in addition to cash for reconstruction, Georgia needed "insurance" from the US and Europe to allay the fears of overseas investors. Asked how much damage he estimated had been done, he replied: "Billions. It's infrastructure, roads and railways, but also confidence. At this stage we are talking about $US2 billion."
Listing what Georgia needed to rebuild, Mr Saakashvili said: "We need cash, but in the long run we need some kind of insurance for the companies coming here, that would make doing business easy. What the economy needs to develop is a meaningful level of security. We need to get out the message that investors should not be scared that Russian tanks will destroy their investment.
"We need some kind of security, peacekeeping force, and secondly we need business insurance for investors," the Georgian leader said. "We need some kind of insurance from different European institutions and the US. We need to calm investors."
Mr Saakashvili's plea came as Russian upper house MPs voted to support the independence from Georgia of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Russian forces entered Georgia on August 8 to repel a Georgian attack on the breakaway region of South Ossetia, which is supported by Moscow. After smashing Georgia's US-trained army in South Ossetia, Russian troops then pushed through Abkhazia, a pro-Moscow breakaway region in the west, and far into Georgian territory.
The Russians' speedy military victory over Georgia, which is pressing for membership of NATO, stunned the Western powers and plunged relations between Russia and the West to their lowest point since the end of the Cold War.
US navy ships arrived off the coast of Georgia yesterday, delivering 55 tonnes of aid to the port of Batumi, about 80km south of Poti, where the Russian forces are dug in. US officials said the naval mission was to provide supplies for refugees from the conflict.
But Georgian Defence Minister David Kezerashvili said the presence of the US warships "means we are not alone".
The growing US military presence prompted the deputy chief of Russia's general staff to complain that NATO was using "humanitarian aid" as a cover for the build-up of naval forces. "I don't think this will help stabilise the situation in the region," Colonel-General Anatoli Nogovitsyn said.
Mounting Western frustration at the refusal by Russia to withdraw completely from Georgia prompted French President Nicolas Sarkozy to call an emergency summit of European Union leaders for September 1. The meeting would consider future EU relations with Russia, as well as aid to Georgia.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner had warned the Kremlin that an EU summit would be held if Russian forces remained in Georgia.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said ties with Moscow could be scaled back if the Russian troops were not withdrawn. "We can't just go back to normal," she said.
Russia insisted its army had withdrawn, but noted that peacekeepers were permitted to remain under the terms of the ceasefire negotiated by Mr Sarkozy. Russian troops remained at Poti, 300km west of South Ossetia, and along sections of the main highway leading towards the city of Gori. |