TBILISI. Jan 9 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian troops group in the Trans-Caucasus does not have concerns about the decision on start paying salaries to servicemen in Georgian lari, chief of the group's press service Colonel Alexander Lutskevich told Interfax-Military News Agency on Thursday.
Russian servicemen in Georgia were ready for such developments a long time ago, Lutskevich said.
"We have yet to settle some technical issues, such as recalculation of currency," he noted.
Everything must become clear by the end of the month when the Russian servicemen will get their first salary this year.
The decision that servicemen at Russian military bases in Georgia will be paid salaries in Georgian lari starting from January 1, 2003 was made in late 2002 in Moscow during negotiations between officials of the Russian Central Bank and Georgian National Bank.
The use of rubles by Russian servicemen on Georgian territory was "a severe violation of Georgian legislation that forbids the use of any currency but lari in the country," President of the Georgian National Bank Irakly Managadze told Interfax-AVN.
He stressed that Georgia is ready to provide "the most favorable conditions and make conversions as easy as possible" for Russian military.