Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr. S.Ilhamgizi / The problems with gas and heat supplies in Azerbaijani villages in Georgia remain unsolved despite promises of the Georgian Government, Dashgin Gulmammadov, the president of the National Assembly of Georgian Azerbaijanis, told Trend Agency on 21 September.
The cost of wood used for heating in autumn and winter seasons has increased. One wood-truck load costs 1200 lary or $750 in the Marneuli region of Georgia. The local population cannot afford to purchase wood at this price. The Georgian Government has promised that the Borchali region would be supplied with a gas system a year before. However, Marneuli, Dmanisk, Bolnisk, and Gardaban, the Azerbaijani-populated regions of Georgia have not yet been supplied with gas systems.
Georgia purchases gas from Azerbaijan at a low price, but does not then supply the local population with gas.
Some 248,000 Azerbaijanis reside in Georgia, official resources reported, but according to non-official resources the number is 500,000.