Georgia, Tbilisi, 21 Feb. / Trend N.Kirtskhalia /
The closing ceremony of the Georgia III project was held at NATO headquarters.
According to the Ministry of Defence of Georgia, speeches during the ceremony were delivered by the Minister of Defence Irakli Alasania and the NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai.
Alasania, highlighting the importance of the project for Georgia, thanked representatives of the participating countries.
"Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, a large number of mines and explosives remained in Georgia. The situation was further worsened after the 2008 war.
Millions of square metres of agricultural land became contaminated. Fortunately, with the support of our partners and international organisations we were able to minimise the threat posed by mines and explosives. The area mined during the war, as well as former Russian military bases in Georgia has been completely cleared," the head of the defence ministry said.
The closing ceremony was also attended by representatives of the NATO member countries and partner nations.
Alasania also made an official statement concerning the initiation of the next phase of the Georgia IV project. The project considers cleaning up the armoury in the village of Skra, damaged during the war, as well as training of an additional field company.
Within the Georgia III project, a field company of the Military Engineering Brigade of the Armed Forces of Georgia was trained in accordance with international standards of humanitarian need. Appropriate equipment was transferred to the rehabilitation unit of the Gori military hospital.