“The Georgian government is taking decisive steps against illegal business activity harmful to the energy sector,” declared Georgia’s Vice Prime Minister and State Minister for the Coordination of Law Enforcement Agencies, Mamuka Mdinaradze, at a briefing held at the Government Administration.

As Mdinaradze explained, one of the main challenges in this regard is the ongoing issue of illegal crypto-mining in the Municipality of Mestia, which has put constant pressure on the local electricity supply. The large-scale illegal consumption of electricity is causing serious damage to the country’s energy system, as well as to the local population and private sector of Mestia.

“The quality of supply is deteriorating due to overload on the grid and transmission lines, and outages are occurring, which, beyond affecting local residents, is also hurting tourism. To be still more precise about the scale of the illegal mining and electricity consumption problem in figures: electricity consumption in the Municipality of Mestia in 2025 reached 133 million kilowatt-hours, whereas a municipality of comparable size, taking all relevant data into account, would not ordinarily exceed 10 million kilowatt-hours. This amounts to damage to the electricity system and financial losses of at least 20-25 million lari, an additional financial burden borne by every citizen paying their electricity bill. Here too we can be specific: each consumer in the country, with every payment they make, is paying an extra lari and a half directly on account of this problem,” declared Mdinaradze.

He further stated that a metering installation process will be launched in Mestia to eliminate the problem, something which, until now, had proved impossible for various conflicting reasons.

“It must be emphasised here that the sole purpose of the metering installation is to eliminate the illegal and clandestine consumption of electricity. Electricity in Svaneti will remain free for every consumer up to the maximum quantity required for their needs, whilst a limit and corresponding tariff will be imposed on consumption above that quantity. The metering will be carried out both locally and on a larger scale across each village and populated settlement. This approach will allow us to identify the exact sources of the problem more effectively.

Law enforcement officers have already been tasked with providing full assistance and oversight throughout this process. They will also strictly identify any large-scale illegal electricity consumption and ensure perpetrators are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

We call upon everyone to respect this process. Any obstruction or violation of the law will be met with a firm legal response,” declared Mamuka Mdinaradze.