Building a Nation

Soon we will commemorate the second anniversary of the August 2008 war, which destroyed every tenth building in our capital of Tskhinval and brought similar damage to other parts of our republic. It is a good time to look at what we have done to restore our country, improve the lives of our people, and to forge a new nation.

South Ossetia is one big construction site. We are literally rebuilding an entire country. The Government of South Ossetia gave reconstruction priority to buildings housing social and educational facilities, residences, and to infrastructure renovation. Accordingly, we have fully restored twenty schools and kindergartens, a central-city hospital, and a university dormitory. We have installed new power lines and built the highest elevated pipeline in the world so our citizens are not dependent on energy from unfriendly neighbors. And, new and refurbished roads re-connect our capital to distant parts of the country.

Agriculture has always been the foundation of our economy, so we are working to to help South Ossetian produce and cattle farmers to restore their properties and resume production. For example, we developed a two-year program of target-oriented, interest-free loans for farmers, and there are also plans to supply them with new agricultural machinery. In addition, we are now using innovative agri-business techniques with the ultimate goal of increasing fruit-and-vegetable exports

We also realize that it will be difficult to fully restore our economy without external investments. Several Russian banks have recently opened branches in South Ossetia, helping our businesses to obtain long-term loans. We are also in the process of enhancing our financial regulatory system so we can expand international cooperation and to make our country more attractive for investment.

Much work remains. Still, the citizens of South Ossetia are proud of our country and its heritage. With the freedom and independence to mold our fate, we will work together to assure a bright and prosperous future.