Part of Akhalgori Residents Already Regrets Taking Ossetian Passports

Mari Otarashvili from Akhalgori

Akhalgori district residents, who took Ossetian passports, are concerned. With the new passport, after the New Year, they will have to travel to Tbilisi via Larsi Checkpoint instead the administrative border.

“Having Ossetian passport, I am citizen of South Ossetia. It means, after the New Year, I will not be able to travel to Tbilisi via Mosabruni (a village in Akhalgori district, where de-facto border is located) and will have to travel via Larsi Custom Office! Citizens of South Ossetia travel to Tbilisi via Larsi Custom,” a woman from Akhalgori said.

Rumors about it were spread in Akhalgori lately. Several months ago, every Akhalgori district resident dreamt about the Ossetian passport and they were standing in the queues in front of the Ossetian militia. Now, people regret for having taken the passports.

Almost every retired person in Akhalgori has Ossetian passport; besides them, employees of the organizations funded from Tskhinvali budget. During the initial stage of the passport issuing, there were no requirements for the applicants. After the passport became attractive for people (because of pension or salary and travelling), de-facto governmental officials demanded them to make written notification on declining the Georgian citizenship and to leave their Georgian ID cards.

Big part of applicants wrote notification and left their Georgian IDs, though they do not speak about it publicly. About 60% of Akhalgori district residents hold Ossetian passports.

They have not left ID cards in the Akhalgori district Ossetian militia office. According to locals, they have even paid about 300 USD for the Ossetian passports.

It is noteworthy that in summer some locals faced problems in getting Ossetian passports because of desirable Ossetian-Russian pension; some people could not get it at all.

De-facto law enforcement agencies acknowledged that applicants had both ID cards and its replacement in the pocket. So, locals say the new rule was adopted: they had to bring a notification from the Georgian Ministry of Justice proving they had officially declined Georgian citizenship. It hindered passportization process that lasted two months.  

In Akhalgori district, Ossetian passportization process was renewed and now every applicant can take it.

It is also noteworthy that person holding Ossetian passport no longer has its substitute document Form 9. Both documents were necessary when crossing de-facto border. The difference is that person holding Ossetian passport is “citizen” of the South Ossetia; but owner of the Form 9 is not. Both of them are issued on the person, who is officially registered in Akhalgori. Applicant for Ossetian passport gives in the Form 9 to the Ossetian militia.

Tskhinvali district de-facto officials do not speak whether transportation regulations will be changed after the New Year.