By David Brunnstrom BRUSSELS, Oct 22 (Reuters) - International donors meet in Brussels on Wednesday to pledge funds to help Georgia recover after its August conflict with Russia, which experts say will require $3.25 billion over the next three years. As well as providing financial backing, Georgia's Western allies are keen to send a strong signal of political support to Tbilisi in the face of a resurgent Russia. The ministerial-level meeting will be co-chaired by the European Commission and the World Bank. More than 70 countries were invited as well as international financial institutions. Russia sent in troops after Georgia tried to retake a breakaway pro-Russian region. Moscow has since withdrawn soldiers from Georgia proper, but the West accused Moscow of a disproportionate use of force. The United States has offered at least $1 billion to help Georgia rebuild after Russian troops and tanks crushed the country's armed forces and damaged infrastructure. The European Commission, the European Union's executive, has promised up to 500 million euros ($662.3 million) until 2010 and External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner has urged EU's 27 individual states to match that figure. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has suggested that he hoped to see twice the Commission sum from individual donors. Russian bombing raids in August hit mainly military targets, but Georgia also reported damage to civilian infrastructure and risks to economic growth and investment. The European Commission says the meeting will aim to mobilise help for rebuilding infrastructure and to help tens of thousands of people forced from their homes. Funds will also go towards accelerating economic recovery and improving the security of energy infrastructure. A U.N. and World Bank-coordinated assessment has estimated Georgia needs $3.25 billion over three years to cover budget support, social sector support and infrastructure development. The central bank in Tbilisi said last month international institutions had pledged a loan package of about $1 billion to help soften the impact of the conflict on the banking sector, which has had to scale down expectations of foreign investment. It said institutions ready to help included the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Bank's International Financial Corp, Germany's KfW and the Asian Development Bank. Last month the International Monetary Fund approved a $750 million loan programme aimed at rebuilding Georgia's currency reserves and restoring investor confidence. Resource-rich Georgia, a strategically important energy transit route, depends on foreign capital for growth and has enjoyed an investment boom since Saakashvili's 2003 election.
Workers remove debris after two trains crashed at Zaozyornaya station, 180 km (112 miles) east of Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, early on October 16, 2008. The Trans-Siberial railway was blocked ...
