Georgia will pay more than double what it pays now for Russian natural gas under an agreement signed yesterday, a top executive with Russian gas giant OAO Gazprom said, in a deal that could potentially threaten its fragile economy.

Georgia will pay more than double what it pays now for Russian natural gas under an agreement signed today, a top executive with Russian gas giant OAO Gazprom said, in a deal that could potentially threaten its fragile economy.

Georgian prime minister Zurab Nogaideli told an American audience that the former Soviet republic was successfully redirecting its economy away from Russia and turning towards the West.

A health official said today that a local laboratory confirmed bird flu in dead fowl in Georgia.