Donors’ conference in Brussels to raise funds for South Ossetia economic rehabilitation demonstrated once again Russia’s strong ambition to deal with the issue separately rather than under the international aegis.

The first-ever donors conference on economic and infrastructure rehabilitation of the South Ossetian conflict zone and adjacent areas was held under the current Belgium Chairmanship of OSCE in Brussels on June 14.

Western donors have pledged a total of EUR 7,9 million for the rehabilitation projects listed in a package of proposals put together based on an OSCE-led Need Assessment Study which was carried out in the conflict zone in 2005-2006 by the Georgian, Ossetian and international experts.

Addressing the conference Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli vowed that his government was ready to allocate sum equivalent to the donors’ pledge; hence up to EUR 8 million.

The pledges from the western donors were: the European Commission - EUR 2 million; the United States – USD 2 million; Sweden EUR 1 million; Belgium – EUR 1 million; Germany - EUR 500,000; the Netherlands - EUR 500,000; Norway - EUR 250,000; Spain - EUR 200,000; Finland - EUR 200,000; Estonia, Turkey, France, Hungary, the United Kingdom, Lithuania, Italy, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Poland and Andorra pledged amounts of up to EUR 150,000.

On top of its pledge to the 2006 budget, the European Commission indicated it was ready to support the package proposal with a similar effort – EUR 2 million in 2007, but only if conditions in the field are conducive and the implementation of the projects goes well.

Russia on its part announced that it is currently considering allocating 100 million Rubles (EUR 3 million) for, as the Russian Foreign Ministry put it, “providing additional assistance to South Ossetia.”

“The part of this [amount] may be directed towards implementation of specific projects in coordination with the OSCE,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on June 15.

Georgia has condemned Russia’s decision as “unilateral and non-transparent.”

“[Decision] to act by-passing Georgia and donor countries will not contribute efforts of the international community to find a comprehensive political settlement of the conflict,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued on June 16.

The Georgian Foreign Ministry also said that the Russia’s move “to unilaterally cooperate” with the breakaway South Ossetian side without any coordination with Tbilisi was also criticized “by some of the participants of the conference.”

At the Brussels conference, Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli reiterated Tbilisi’s commitment to peacefully solve the conflict and contribute to economic rehabilitation of the region. But the South Ossetian side, which was also represented at the conference, expressed doubts about these commitments and noted Tskhinvali’s willingness towards closer ties with Russia.

"We are indeed prepared to partake of prosperity, but not Georgia's – the Russian Federation's… That because we have had no ties to Georgia, have none [now], and will not have any [in the future]," Prime Minister of breakaway South Ossetia Yuri Morozov, native of Russia, said as quoted by the RFE/RL.