TSKHINVALI. March 10 (Interfax) - Georgia has cut gas supplies to the capital of South Ossetia, Tskhinvali.

Georgia had to cut its gas supplies because of maintenance operations on the gas pipeline, which supplies gas to South Ossetia from Georgia, Energetika's General Director Alan Gabarayev told Interfax on Tuesday.

"We have received a telephoned message from Georgian company Itera Georgia, which supplies gas to South Ossetia, saying that gas supplies will be temporarily suspended on March 10. The measure is due to maintenance operations in the Georgian section of the gas pipeline. Once Georgia resumes gas supplies and pressure in the pipeline is restored to at least the minimum required level, we will start supplying gas to the town facilities," Gabarayev said.

Itera admitted that the damage was on the Georgian side, he said. "However, they did not tell us what exactly caused the malfunction, despite our multiple requests. For our part, we offered any assistance in resolving this problem. But there has been no reaction from them yet," Gabarayev said.

"Our priority is to supply gas to our people, and to do so we would agree to any compromise and to do anything to avoid politicizing the matter. However, so far the problem remains and there is no progress," Gabarayev said.