Государственное информационное агентство "Рес"

Today in South Ossetia two holidays are celebrating at the same time: the Day of the Defender of the Fatherland and also the celebration of the eighteen years since the day of the creation of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of South Ossetia.
In his interview to the IA "Res" the Minister of Defense of RSO Valery Yakhnovets has told about the issues and tasks of the defense department, as well as about the plans of development of the Armed forces.

The formation of our Armed forces had a specific way, considering the situation, threatening for that moment. It` not easy for me to tell of the exact ways of that processes, I can judge about them only by the telling of people, but the fact is, that the Ministry of Defense was created in August 2008, and owing to its arrangement and readiness, made a contribution to the achievement of the victory.
However, during its 18-year existence the Ministry of Defense, in principle, did not create the corresponding infrastructures for the armed forces. That is to say, that there is no points of constant dislocation, corresponding to the charter of the barracks, parking zone and modern technology.

Dzhagaeva Nelli Gerasimovna, 1970 r., a citizen of Tskhinval.
It is impossible to forget the events of August 2008. The terrifying pictures of the aggressor’s brutality and the burdens, which have fallen to our people` lot during the whole period of Georgian aggression, are all time before our eyes.

Public organizations played a significant role since the very declaration of the Republic of South Ossetia, said Kosta Dzugaev, the state advisor to the South Ossetian president, in his interview. "My generation", he reminded "very well remembers the activeness of NGOs in early 90s. Then, by mid-90s, new organizations were created and developed with the funding from Western partners.

The third meeting of the Intergovernmental commission for socio-economic cooperation between the Republic of South Ossetia and Russian Federation will take place on 25 February in Vladikavkaz. According to the RSO presidential and governmental press-service, the meeting participants will hear out the information of the South-Ossetian side on the authorized republican body in charge of cooperation with the ministry of regional development of RF for implementation of the approved investment program for promotion of the socio-economic development of RSO for 2011.

The third session of the Inter-Governmental Commission for Socio-Economic Cooperation between the Republic of South Ossetia and the Russian Federation is scheduled for 25 February in Vladikavkaz, reported the Minister for Economic Development of South Ossetia Konstantin Koliev. According to him, the session would focus on the preparation for the implementation of the Investment Program of Socio-Economic Development of South Ossetia that was approved at the second session of the Inter-Governmental Commission on 30 November 2010 in Tskhinval. "The documentation that is under preparation for the start of funding for the Investment program is to be considered. It is also planned to adopt priority lists for the sites and discussion of the form of control over the implementation of the investment program suggested by the Russian Federation", informed the Minister.

The Republican Political Party "Yedinstvo" of South Ossetia had elaborated a action plan jointly with the Russian Border to engage the border-guards into public life of the Republic, reported the Chairperson of the City branch of the party Eleonora Bedoeva. "The first event, a lecture on territorial plan of the Republic of South Ossetia was a great success. The border-guards showed their vivid interests in the plans of socio-economic development of the Republic", informed Bedoeva.

The situation at Transkam main highway and the roads of republican importance in South Ossetia was discussed at the session of the head of presidential administration Arsen Gagloev with ministers and heads of governmental agencies of South Ossetia. Deputy Prime Minister Domenty Kulumbegov also attended the session. Director of State Unitary Enterprise "Dorexpostroy" Igor Tuaev reported on the situation after the heavy snowfalls. "The roads of the republican importance are all open. Road services are all engaged in this emergency job with 24-hour use of machinery and equipment. It is hard to say how the situation develops. It all depends on the weather conditions", said Tuaev.

South Ossetia will continue the efforts to release all its citizens detained in Georgian prisons, stated the Deputy Special Representative for Post-Conflict Settlement Merab Chigoev after the today's hand-over of Georgian citizens detained in South Ossetia and return of the equal number of South Ossetian who were in detention in Georgia.

A hand-over of seven Georgian citizens serving their sentence or under investigation in South Ossetia and equal number of South Ossetians detained in Georgia took place today at the borderline between South Ossetia and Georgia.
The agreement on this hand-over was reached at 17 February meeting within the frames of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism.

Heavy snowfalls in South Ossetia complicated road connection with remote villages of Znaur District. As the Head of Znaur District Administration Zaur Tskhovrebov reported to IA RES, the snow cleaning works are actively ongoing southward, as well as in the dirction to Tsnelis valley. "Today, all capacities are mobilized to clean the village roads from snow.