Russia’s state-controlled natural gas monopoly said on Thursday that it would more than double the price it charges Georgia, further heightening tensions between the ex-Soviet neighbors, The Associated Press reports.
OAO Gazprom said in a statement that it will charge $230 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas, compared with the $110 that it charges now.
Tensions rose between the two countries after Georgia briefly detained four purported Russian spies in late September. Moscow responded with a transport and postal blockade on Georgia and a crackdown on Georgian migrants living in Russia, whose financial remittances help sustain their homeland’s economy.
The gas announcement signals Russia’s continued recalcitrant stance even as Georgia’s foreign minister Gela Bezhuashvili, visits Moscow in the hope of easing the conflict.
Relations between Moscow and Tsilisi have steadily deteriorated since 2004 election of Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, who has sought to take the Caucasus nation out of the Russian orbit, bolster ties with the West and join NATO in 2008.