Acting Prime Minister of Abkhazia Valery Bganba called for strengthening the fight against cryptocurrency mining, as the energy sector of this partially recognized country was under threat of an emergency.

At a meeting with representatives of security forces and energy workers, the acting head of government explained that compared to 2016, electricity consumption increased by 1 billion kWh, and this is explained by a poorly organized fight against miners.

“We need to intensify the fight against mining by identifying the places where the largest jumps in electricity consumption are. The law allows equipment to be confiscated. If the situation does not change, I will be forced to ask the acting president to introduce a state of emergency,” Bganba announced.

First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Energy and Transport Jansukh Nanba said that the electricity consumed by miners is at least 40 MW per day, that is, 1 million kWh. According to Temur Dzhindzholia, CEO of Chernomorenergo, currently approximately 97-98% of illegal electricity consumption comes from mining in residential buildings. It is necessary to find a solution so that searches can be carried out in apartments in order to seize equipment, the official suggested.

The Minister of Internal Affairs of Abkhazia, Robert Kiut, said that this year, “with the help of technical means,” 1,097 units of mining devices have already been found and seized.

Earlier, the Department of Internal Affairs of the city of Sukhum discovered three mining farms secretly connected to the power grid. Twenty-five pieces of cryptocurrency mining equipment were confiscated, and the farms stopped working.