South Ossetia the war in the 1990s, South Ossetia struggled economically. South Ossetian GDP was estimated at US$15 million (US$250 per capita) in a work published in 2002. Employment and supplies are scarce. Additionally, Georgia cut off supplies of electricity to the region, which forced the South Ossetian government to run an electric cable through North Ossetia. The majority of the population survives on subsistence farming. Virtually the only significant economic asset that South Ossetia possesses is control of the Roki Tunnel that is used to link Russia and Georgia, from which the South Ossetian government reportedly obtained as much as a
Abkhazia–South Ossetia relations Ossetia's Parliament on 27 December and by Abkhazia's Parliament on 15 February 2006. On 20 September, Kokoity awarded Bagapsh with the Medal of Honour. Diplomatic relations between both countries were established on 26 September 2007. In recent years, the governments of Abkhazia and South Ossetia have been working closely together in search of more international recognition. The leaders of Abkhazia and South Ossetia have also signed a mutual defense pact, stating that in case either country is attacked, the other must become involved in the other's defense. During the 2008 South Ossetia war, Abkhazian soldiers and volunteers backed by Russian