MOSCOW, November 17 (RIA Novosti) - Georgia claims that pipeline damage is responsible for the suspension of natural gas deliveries to its breakaway province of South Ossetia, a Gazprom spokesman told a radio station Monday.
Tbilisi closed the Gori-Tskhinvali pipeline that pumped gas from Russia to South Ossetia via Georgia when a brief war broke out in August.
"The Georgian side claims that the Gori-Tskhinvali gas pipeline has been damaged," Sergei Kupriyanov told Ekho Moskvy.
He added that the Russian gas giant was unable to confirm or deny Tbilisi's claim since it had no access to the Georgian section of the pipeline.
Kupriyanov also said that a direct pipeline to South Ossetia will be built by mid-2009.
"No one thought a direct gas pipe would be necessary; now it is being built, but will not be completed until the middle of next year," he said.
In early August, Russia fought a brief war with Georgia over South Ossetia after Georgian forces attacked the republic in an attempt to bring it back under central control.
On August 26, Russia recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the other Georgian breakaway republic, as independent states.
