DECISION TAKEN BY THE 12th EXTRAORDINARY SESSION OF THE SOUTH OSSETIAN OBLAST COUNCIL OF THE PEOPLE’S DEPUTIES OF THE 20th CONVOCATION on changes to Paragraph 1 of the Decision of 11th Session of the South Ossetian Oblast Council of the People’s Deputies of the 20th convocation of 26 September 1989 “on State Programme for Development of the Ossetian language”.

The 12th extraordinary session of the South Ossetian Oblast Council of the people’s Deputies decides:

Paragraph 1.  To word the decision of the 11th session of the South Ossetian Oblast Council of the People’s Deputies of the 20th convocation as follows:

1. Ossetian language is a state language in the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast.

Free and equal functioning of Georgian and Russian languages in the Oblast shall be exercised pursuant to the language policy of the USSR.

Issues related to the office language shall be considered under the competence of the Oblast Council of the People’s Deputies respecting the ethnic and cultural environment of the Oblast.

Official correspondence between the oblast, union republic and the USSR entities, enterprises and organizations shall be done in State language (in Russian - edit.).

The First Deputy Chairman of the Ispolcom

of the People’s Deputies of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast M. Sanakoev.

Secretary of the Ispolcom

of the People’s Deputies of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast I. Kokoev.

10 November 1989

(Central State Archive of the newest history of Georgia, file 1165, reg. 8, pg. 62)