Opinion: Main cause of Abkhazia's energy crisis is corruption
Abkhazia electricity outages continue
Abkhazia is experiencing a severe electricity shortage.
During the day, electricity is available for a total of only three hours.
To supply the republic with power at night, electricity must be purchased from Russia at market rates.
The republic’s budget has been completely drained to cover these expenses.
The bill for the latest “batch” of Russian electricity was settled in advance by Abkhazia’s largest winery through future tax payments. Where the money for the next batch will come from remains unclear.
The situation was discussed in parliament with the participation of government members. It was revealed that Abkhazia does not receive any money for the transit of electricity through the “Kavkasioni” transmission line, which Russia uses to supply electricity to Georgia.
“Why does a sovereign country, through whose territory a high-voltage line passes, where some sell and others buy electricity, not receive money for the transit? And if it does, who receives it, how much, and into whose pocket does it go?” asked MP Kan Kvarchia, addressing the Minister of Energy.
The minister’s response shocked everyone. It turns out that the “Kavkasioni” line is owned by a Georgian company, and Abkhazia has no connection to it. Moreover, due to the unresolved conflict between Georgia and Abkhazia, with Georgia considering Abkhazian territory as part of its own, no payment for the transit is made.
The editor of the newspaper Chegemskaya Pravda and JAMnews’s Abkhazian editor, Inal Khashig, believes the issue lies not with Georgia, which does not recognize Abkhazia, but with corruption within the republic itself.
Inal Khashig:
“Why is it only now that people are remembering that electricity has been regularly passing through ‘Kavkasioni,’ and yet the Abkhaz treasury has received no money for it?
It’s impossible that everyone simply forgot about it and suddenly woke up now.
Someone among the Abkhaz officials has been pocketing that money all this time, that’s for sure. There are no fools in the government: any of them might neglect state interests, but they’ll never neglect their own.”
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It is precisely from such diverted funds that Abkhazia’s current energy crisis has arisen. Every official, in their position, has been taking whatever they can.
By the way, following the deputy prime minister’s statement that electricity flowed through the “Kavkasioni” line without Abkhazia receiving any payment, the Prosecutor General’s Office should already open a criminal case.
Even if “Kavkasioni” is not officially listed as Abkhazian property on paper (although just a few years ago, it was on Abkhazia’s balance sheet), the line has been used for regular electricity flow. This means that significant business activity has taken place on our territory, yet no taxes have been paid into the Abkhazian treasury.
Notably, about ten years ago, the republic received 80 million rubles annually for this transit (equivalent to $2 million at the exchange rate of the time).
So, Prosecutor General’s Office and State Security Service, it’s your turn to act… And let the Ministry of Taxes calculate the arrears.
The situation around “Kavkasioni” once again highlights that the biggest problem in Abkhazia is rampant corruption.
Behind every decree, every economic law, every tax break, and, more recently, every intergovernmental agreement, lies the personal interest of Abkhaz officials. And this personal interest always takes precedence over the interests of the republic.
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