Those are pro-western ‘evil spirits’ that promote corruption in South Ossetia-Surkov
Eduard Kokoity
‘Chas Sivkova’ (Sivkov’s Hour), a popular Russian online TV program, focused on South Ossetia issues.
The program with a title: ‘Unknown Secrets of South Ossetia’ focused on bombshell themes, namely:
why is the corruption problem so acute in the republic?
and in what way does the Russian President’s aide, Vladislav Surkov (who is referred to in the program as a ‘curator of South Ossetia and Abkhazia’) negatively influence local politics?
Eduard Kokoity, the second (now-former) President of South Ossetia, currently a leading opposition politician, answered these and many other questions.
The program is hosted by Konstantin Sivkov, a holder of a PhD in military science.
JAMnews offers a summary of all major themes touched upon during the program.
Pro-Western powers in South Ossetia
Konstntin Sivkov:
“I have become familiarized with a letter by South Ossetia’s most influential political parties and movements [a total of 14 signatories – JAMnews], addressed to the President of the Russian Federation. As is pointed out in the letter, Mr. Surkov, who is in charge of the South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions on behalf of the Russian Federation, destabilizes the situation in the country through his actions. I want to draw your attention to the fact that Russia’s patriotic forces also have a bone to pick with Mr. Surkov for his actions in the 1990’s and 2000’s.”
Eduard Kokoity:
When answering the question, Eduard Kokoity attributed Vladislav Surkov and his team to the ‘pro-Western powers’, saying that one should get ‘a clear insight on the matter’.
“We, the patriotic forces, should be vigilant…We are grateful to Russia for its support and rendered assistance…each Ossetian is grateful.
“Yet, we are well-aware what triggers the so-called curators’ keen interest… There are huge shortcomings in the work of those contractor organizations that they brought to South Ossetia, be it the construction of a multi-apartment complex, a theater, or some other facilities. Funds have been allocated, but the construction works either haven’t been completed, or the technological process has been disrupted. Some buildings haven’t been constructed yet, but they are already unfit and are in a dangerous condition, including a complex in the Heroes Street.
“Those contractors, brought by the curators, have ‘skimmed the cream off’ and have gone. There was the same situation in 2011. It is done under the following scheme:
- having failed to execute the works, a contractor organization quickly commissions a facility to the Ossetian contractors;
- the Ossetian contractors take on the facility under a guarantee that everything will be financed;
- they do their job and are left with nothing.
“Many of my opponents reprimand me for allegedly making anti-Russia statements.
“And I tell them: have your curators peddled that into your mind? I criticize your curators, because they’ve led the country to a critical situation. If the Investigative Committee and the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation are interested in that.
“We are concerned about the RF’s reputation in this hard times, when sanctions have been imposed on Russia, and the rest of the world is creating almost unbearable conditions to the country. A unipolar world is breaking down today, and that’s thanks to Putin and Russia. And this is haunting the minds of many. So, naturally, the pro-Western forces are doing their best to constrain…Putin.
“Just ask the people of South Ossetia, how free-and-easy the pro-Western and pro-Georgian forces feel here nowadays. And that’s also due to those curators, who are governing South Ossetia.”
Kokoity also said that ‘in the era of new information technologies, the youth are brainwashed. So, one should be very vigilant, rather than just sit back and do nothing, watching the developments from the outside.’
Эдуард Кокойты и президент РФ Владимир Путин
Current developments in South Ossetia
Eduard Kokoity:
“South Ossetia has elected a new President, Bibilov, a man who fought for South Ossetia and never sheltered behind other people’s backs. After we [Kokoity’s adherents-JAMnews] officially supported him, many people showed up, who are willing to drive a wedge between us. Among them are those pro-Western forces, those very curators, who have started influencing him [the President], preventing his fruitful interaction with South Ossetia’s patriotic powers.
“We are not going to keep aloof and watch a person stumble. On the contrary, we are ready to help him. We realize that he is facing a difficult situation, because we know that he will be pressured severely, including through threats to terminate funding, that have already been voiced by some political analysts.
“I would like to stress that Tbilisi is a favorite rostrum for those political analysts, who gave all sorts of assessments during the election campaign and who criticized me. Those political analysts played a key role during the election campaign in South Ossetia, deciding on who should be admitted to election, and who should not. I didn’t expect that our judicial authorities would decide to keep me out of the campaign. We had many opportunities to resist that, but we maintained stability, because we highly value South Ossetia’s reputation.”
West, Georgia and South Ossetia
Konstantin Sivkov:
“Is it possible to diminish the negative influence of the pro-Western and Tbilisi-oriented powers?”
Eduard Kokoity:
“What gives grounds for concern is that there actually weren’t any pro-Georgian forces in South Ossetia until 2011, whereas now they are such forces and the only thing we’ve managed so far is to ensure that they don’t maintain power. Practically, there aren’t any of them in the new team.
“Another alarming thing is that [some] people assigned from Russia, who represent the law-enforcement and defense structures, aren’t all ‘saturated’ with a patriotic feeling of duty to Russia. They…have accepted the rules of those who are now in charge of construction issues and distribution of funds.“
An appeal to the RF General Prosecutor’s Office with a proposal to conduct an investigation into the embezzlement of funds in South Ossetia
The program host, Konstantin Sivkov, appealed to the RF General Prosecutor’s Office with a proposal to produce documents confirming the facts of misappropriation of funds in South Ossetia and direct corruption.
He said that those would be the legal measures against ‘the western evil sources that are pressing hard on [Russia] and South Ossetia.’
In response to the aforesaid, Eduard Kokoity noted that the South Ossetian and some Russian contractors already appealed to the RF President on a number of occasions, complaining that he hadn’t received the promised funds.
“Let’s wait for the reaction to their letters and appeals. I’m eager to help in this regard,” Eduard Kokoity stated.
