BP to offset pipeline construction on farmlands

British Petroleum, the operator of the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, has allocated $6.5m for Georgian farmers to compensate the cost of the land where the oil pipeline is to be laid. The payment of compensations has started already, the Georgian international oil corporation (GMNK) told RBC. Farmers in the Akhaltsikhi and Borzhomi districts have already received compensations. This process is expected to be completed in April 2003.

The GMNK said that negotiations with the Georgian rural population were unfolding without problems in general. At the same time in the Krtsanisi village, not far from Tbilisi, people are demanding higher compensation and additional guarantees for the ecological safety of the oil pipeline.

© &to=http://www.rbc.com' target=_blank>RBC