According to Abkhazia’s deputy prime minister, the state is in negotiations with Russia about energy supply, this is because they want to revive the mining industry which was temporarily put to stop.
Abkhazia, a South Caucasus state, has announced that it is in talks with the Russian government to revive Bitcoin (BTC) mining in the country.
Christina Ozgan, Abkhazia’s Minister of Economy and Deputy Prime Minister, talked at a press conference on Wednesday about the situation in the energy sector, the government’s policies, electricity pricing, and mining.
She stated that the administration is in talks with Russia about supplying energy to the BTC miners so they can set up camp in the area.
“Such a scheme has been worked out. We had representatives from the Russian side who studied the technical supply scheme. At the moment, a draft agreement has been sent to us, which we are working on, ”Ozgan said.
Following the original extension of the 2018 mining ban until 2022, the government of Abkhazia now wants to legalize crypto mining in the country.
The nitty-gritty of the 2020 extension on the interim ban was disclosed by Ozgan, who explained that crypto mining was not criminalized, i.e., it was not outlawed by the legislation; instead, equipment limits were imposed.
She also stated that 66,000 mining rigs were imported into the nation before the temporary embargo went into place.
The Cabinet of Ministers announced limits and extensions in December 2020. However, in 2021, the executive branch proposed legislation to strengthen the penalties for illicit electricity consumption in cryptocurrency mining. The Parliament was in favour of this initiative.
To address the mining issue as well as the energy crisis, the government has proposed that miners begin paying the most recent electricity cost for cryptocurrency mining.
“a certain tariff plan will be approved, which will determine the time frame for changing the tariff by years within five years. We are already doing preliminary work. There are preliminary calculations. First, there will be a social tariff, most likely in 2022, and then we will completely change the tariff policy, ”said the Minister of Economy.