(Tbilisi, January 8, 2003. Civil Georgia) – Georgia signed an agreement with the US company Northrop Grumman Corp. to develop an aerial system to monitor the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) export pipeline.
Giorgi Chanturia, president of Georgian International Oil Corporation says Georgia would receive radar configurations for the security monitoring of the BTC.
Giorgi Chanturia also states that the US government allocated additional $11 million to Georgia to form a 400-member special military unit to protect the BTC pipeline. The special unit would consist of Georgian military personnel trained by US instructors within the Georgia Train-and-Equip program.
Georgian authorities approved the construction of the BTC, which will carry Azeri oil to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan via Georgia, in early December.