PRESSURE EXERTED ON GEORGIAN SIDE WHEN SIGNING PAPERS ON BAKU-TBILISI-CEYHAN OIL PIPELINE BUILDING

PanARMENIAN.Net - Georgian minister of ecology Nino Chkhobadze has confessed that representatives of British Petroleum Azerbaijan company, which is the operator of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan project, had exerted pressure on the Georgian party when working out the ecological documents necessary for beginning the building of the Georgian segment of the oil pipeline. As reported by "Arminfo" agency, the minister noted at a press conference in Tbilisi that pressure had been put not only upon her, but also upon Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze participating in the talks. At the same time the minister reported that owing to Shevardnadze's stand conditions were laid down to be fulfilled by the investors before beginning the construction works. Nino Chkhobadze noted that permanent monitoring of the fulfillment of those conditions would be held, being financed by a special World Bank credit. Let us remind that yesterday the Georgian government signed an agreement permitting the beginning of the building of the Georgian segment of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline.