South Ossetia had ended. The war displaced 192,000 people, and while many were able to return to their homes after the war, a year later around 30,000 ethnic Georgians remained displaced. In an interview published in "Kommersant", South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity said he would not allow Georgians to return. President of France Nicolas Sarkozy negotiated a ceasefire agreement on 12 August 2008. On 17 August, Russian president Dmitry Medvedev announced that Russian forces would begin to pull out of Georgia the following day. Russia recognised Abkhazia and South Ossetia as separate republics on 26 August. In response to Russia's recognition, the
South Ossetia Ossetian Agriculture ministry also imported some tractors in 2008, and was expecting delivery of more farm machinery in 2009. Russia planned to spend 10 billion rubles in the restoration of South Ossetia in 2008. The economy is currently very dependent on funding from Russia. In 2017 the Administration of South Ossetia estimated its GDP to be nearly 0.1 billion US dollars. The country's principal university is South Ossetia State University in Tskhinvali. After the Russo-Georgian War in 2008, education officials attempted to place most university-bound students from South Ossetia in Russian post-secondary education institutions. South Ossetia South Ossetia (, ),