Abkhazian authorities are stepping up efforts to clamp down on cryptocurrency mining amid electricity shortages in the winter months. The government of the breakaway region of Georgia announced that it is also taking measures to prevent imports of mining equipment.
Abkhazia Creates Headquarters to Combat Illegal Crypto Mining Operations
Police in Abkhazia are conducting daily raids to identify mining facilities that have been illegally connected to the power grid and inspect previously closed crypto farms, the Interior Ministry of the partially recognized republic in northwest Georgia revealed in a statement. Press release.
The department also said that it is closely monitoring the activities of individuals and entities that provide services for the supply and maintenance of devices designed to mint digital currencies in order to prevent the importation of mining hardware into the territory that is still prohibited.
In addition, a republican headquarters to combat illegal cryptomining has been established by order of President Aslan Bzhania. It includes the heads of the Ministry of Economy, the State Security Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the State Customs Committee and other departments.
The body is chaired by Prime Minister Alexander Ankvab, who has demanded that the region’s electrical engineers investigate all cases of illegal connections of mining farms to the distribution network, according to the government press service. Quoted by the Russian business news portal RBC, he stated:
The situation in the electric power industry is extremely difficult, so the fight against mining, together with other measures, should significantly reduce the burden on the infrastructure.
Ankvab insisted that all unauthorized installations and operation of transformer substations must be eliminated with the help of law enforcement and stressed that executives of power companies have a personal responsibility to change the current situation. The prime minister instructed customs officials to identify and suppress attempts to import mining equipment.
In recent years, many people in Abkhazia have turned to mining digital currencies as a source of additional income and the government blames power-hungry production for the republic’s growing electricity deficit.
The Russian-backed de facto state temporarily banned crypto mining and hardware imports in 2018 in an effort to deal with the energy crisis. In 2021, the ban was extended until spring 2022, and then extended again.
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