Finance
Russia to start humanitarian supplies of electricity to breakaway Georgian region
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on December 22, 2024
2 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on December 22, 2024
2 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
Russia will supply electricity to Abkhazia to alleviate power shortages caused by low water levels at the Enguri dam. The humanitarian effort reduces daily shutdowns.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia will start humanitarian supplies of electricity to Abkhazia, a breakaway Georgian region backed by Moscow, from Monday, Russian news agencies quoted local officials as saying.
Electricity shortages, common in Abkhazia in the winter months, began in early December when low water levels at the Enguri hydroelectric dam forced an emergency shutdown.
The region appealed to Russia for assistance, saying it was facing a "humanitarian catastrophe" due to a critical shortage of power.
"In response to Abkhazia's appeal, the Russian leadership has once again extended a helping hand to us and is starting to carry out a humanitarian transfer of electricity to the republic," Interfax news agency cited Badra Gunba, Abkhazia's self-styled president, as saying on Sunday.
Shutdowns will be cut to four hours a day, the Abkhazian state energy company Chernomorenergo said, instead of the 9-11 hours the region is facing now.
Abkhazia borders Russia's southern Krasnodar region. Russia's Energy Ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Russian electricity export operator InterRAO declined to comment.
Abkhazia broke from Georgia's control in a war after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, during which hundreds of thousands of ethnic Georgians fled the region.
Moscow has long supported it and another breakaway Georgian region, South Ossetia, and recognised them as independent after winning a five-day war against Georgia in 2008.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
The article discusses Russia's humanitarian electricity supply to Abkhazia, a breakaway region of Georgia, to address power shortages.
Abkhazia is experiencing power shortages due to low water levels at the Enguri hydroelectric dam, leading to emergency shutdowns.
Russia has responded by starting humanitarian electricity supplies to Abkhazia, reducing power shutdowns in the region.
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