US won't drop energy-bill help for needy Georgians

The United States government and its Agency for International Development will continue to bear the costs of electricity for needy Georgians despite the departure from Georgia of the AES Corp. and the presence in Georgia of Russia's United Energy Systems. Richard Miles, the US ambassador to Georgia, made the announcement to journalists yesterday. The amounts and mechanisms of the distribution are to be worked out with UES, Miles said.

The Russian company acquired a 75% interest in , the Tbilisi electricity-distributing company, at the beginning of August. TELASI had till then been in the control of AES, a US firm. Over the past two years, the US government and the Agency for International Development have distributed some USD 40,000 to help needy Georgians pay their residential heating and light bills.