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Georgian Presidential Administration chief: â€œWhat the Georgian Presidentâ€™s adviser says doesnâ€™t coincide with the position of Georgian governmentâ€ - INTERVIEW

06 June 2009 11:45 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Lachin Sultanova â€“APA. Georgian Presidential Administration Chief Ekaterina Sharashidze gives an exclusive interview to APA.

-Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Prime Minister Nika Gilauri visited Azerbaijan recently. How do these visits impact on the relations between the countries?

- Our countries have close relations not only in the energy, but other fields as well. We are working to develop both political and economic relations and to search new ways for useful investments. The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is constructed now and we are creating all opportunities for the development of Azerbaijani business in Georgia, as well as for direct relations between Azerbaijan and Adjara, the part of Georgia. Adjara is a tourism area and has large tourism opportunities and Azerbaijan can put serious investments there.

- What phase is the construction of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway in?

- The existent part of the railway is restored now and the engineers are working on the construction of other part and station as well. This is very complicated project. This is the largest project in Georgia besides Baku-Ceyhan and Baku-Erzrum. This railway will unite not only Azerbaijan and Georgia with Turkey, but it will begin from China and will extend until the Bosphorus and Europe. It is very important project for both countries and we are actively working to accelerate it.

- Is the price of Azerbaijani natural gas negotiated now?

- We have gas price agreement with Azerbaijan and this issue is not negotiated now. We are seeking for various projects for the development of both countries.

- How is the internal situation in Georgia now?

- The situation is normal and we regard opposition rallies as normal for a democratic country. There will be both the parliament and out-of-parliament opposition, they have different ideas. Dialogue is conducted when it is necessary for the opposition and is not conducted when it is necessary. This is the political development of the country. The opposition which is out of parliament has other ideas, it is hard to negotiate with them, but we try to find a common language.

- Azerbaijanis living in Georgia are faced with various problems regularly. How are these problems dealt with?

- We are seriously engaged in addressing the problems facing our citizens and we have no different attitude to our Azeri citizens and other citizens. Problems always existed and will exist in the future, the main point is that we attempt to deal with them. For example, the change of toponyms occurred several years ago. Our historians and experts are investigating this issue. Of course, we canâ€™t do anything that can hurt the feelings or historical memories of people.

- A while ago, Georgian presidentâ€™s adviser Mubariz Garayev told APA that SOCAR-GAS-Georgia management is comprised of people who have no credibility among the locals. He called on SOCAR to address this issue. What has changed recently?

- What he says doesnâ€™t coincide with the position of Georgian government. We have good relations with SOCAR, we solve any arising questions in a friendly way. For 3-4 years, SOCAR is one of the largest investors in Georgia and has invested about $200 million here. The company is now working on the provision of gas to some areas and this project will provide 150 000 households with gas. We closely work with the company in this issue. We have no problem with SOCAR-GAS and we do out utmost to help it for the development of Georgia and peopleâ€™s benefiting from this.