Turkmen Cut Georgia's Gas

TBILISI -- Turkmenistan has cut off supplies of natural gas to Georgia because Tbilisi has been unable to keep up payments, Georgia's state gas company said. Company spokesman Tamaz Gagua said Wednesday that Turkmenistan had ceased its daily deliveries of 8.5 million cubic meters of natural gas Tuesday. But Georgian Vice-Premier Zurab Keraishvili said later the Central Asian state had agreed to resume supplies for the next two weeks while his republic searched for a way to start paying for past deliveries. Georgia owes Turkmenistan $300 million for previous supplies. It had undertaken to deliver $120 million worth of agricultural goods to offset the debt but has so far come up with produce worth only $3 million. The Georgian cabinet met in special session Wednesday and discussed a directive to cut energy use in the Transcaucasian country. Gagua said the government was negotiating with other countries on gas deliveries, but this would take time.