On November 17, the XXII meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Socio-Economic Cooperation between the separatist Republic of South Ossetia/Tskhinvali Region and the Russian Federation was held in Tskhinvali.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak noted that after a long break, the work of the IGC returned to the usual face-to-face format, which affects the effectiveness of the work of the parties in solving the tasks of developing trade and economic cooperation. "Our countries are close friends and time-tested allies. There can be no unresolved tasks between us," he said. "Over the past years, the republic has achieved tangible results in building a modern democratic and economically independent state. Today, there is an active process of modernization of the infrastructure, improvement of the structure of state administration, strengthening of the financial sector and social institutions, and enhancement of the country's defense capability. The level of well-being of citizens ultimately depends on the success on this difficult path," Novak noted. According to the official, the issues arising during work are promptly resolved at the level of the presidential administration, the Russian government, and the Security Council apparatus. In addition, full interaction is also carried out between the ministries and agencies of the two countries.

"Russia is ready to continue to provide South Ossetia with all necessary support: financial, expert, resource support and, despite the negative processes taking place in the political conjuncture, counts on the appropriate return of South Ossetian partners," he added. Novak specified that, first of all, he is talking about the effective implementation of investment programs and the Program of socio-economic development until 2025, integration processes in the customs and tax spheres, and strengthening control over the spending of Russian financial aid. "We consider the increase of investment attractiveness of South Ossetia an important factor in the development of bilateral interaction and cooperation. We see this as a pledge to expand trade, economic, scientific, and technical cooperation with Russian regions, including through the implementation of joint projects," Alexander Novak said.

Then the parties discussed issues of providing financial assistance to South Ossetia in 2023 for its socio-economic development, implementation of investment programs and the State Program "Socio-economic development of the Republic of South Ossetia for 2022-2025", as well as the plan of measures to optimize energy supply of the republic and issues of customs cooperation between the two countries.