A week-long water supply break in the capital of South Ossetia

On May 24, 2007, under the order of Georgian leaders drinking water delivery to the city of Tskhinval was stopped. The subdivisions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, acting without a permit of the officials of the Mixed Control Commission (MCC) for Settlement of the Georgian-Ossetian Conflict who are located in the adjacent villages, would not let, under a threat of shooting, the repair team of the Tskhinval water supply company to the place of damage.

Marina Kochieva, chief epidemiologist of South Ossetia, said to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent: "The absence of water in the conditions of heat and high air humidity can result in an outbreak of infectious diseases."

Merab Antadze, State Minister of Georgia for Settling Conflicts, has emphasized that the problem with water supply to Tskhinval will be solved in a couple of days: "The problem arises every year and has technical character."

Making his comments on the situation, President Eduard Kokoity has stated: "If the repair works on the damaged sections of the water fail to start in the near future, we reserve the right to cut water supply lines to the Georgian settlements that pass across the territory of the Republic of South Ossetia."