A shootout took place in the Parliament of Abkhazia, during which deputy Vakhtang Golandzia died in hospital and another politician, Kan Kvarchia, was injured, Interfax reports citing its own correspondent. According to preliminary information, another deputy, Adgur Kharazia, started the shooting.
Author:
https://rb.ru/author/mihail-zelenin/
Subscribe to RB.RU on Telegram
The shooting occurred during a debate over a complete ban on cryptocurrency mining in the republic. A conflict arose between deputies Kharazia and Kvarchia, resulting in a shootout: Kharazia pulled out a firearm and shot Kvarchia several times. Vakhtang Golandzia, who was trying to end the conflict, was killed.
URA.RU, citing local law enforcement officials, writes that after the incident, security measures were strengthened at the state borders and on the country’s main highway, and a nationwide interception plan was announced. Operational activities are carried out by employees of the Sukhum Directorate of Internal Affairs, the Gulrypsh district Internal Affairs Directorate and agents of the central office of the local Ministry of Internal Affairs. Exit from Abkhazia is temporarily blocked.
Previously, on December 16, the Parliament of Abkhazia approved in first reading the ban on cryptocurrency mining, as well as amendments to the Criminal Code of the Republic, which provide for criminal liability for cryptocurrency mining.
The ban on mining in the republic has been in force since 2018, but then it only referred to the use of state electricity; subject to private generation, cryptocurrency mining was allowed. Since 2020, mining equipment has been banned from being imported into the country because it puts too much strain on local power grids and causes power outages.
According to the new bill, if the total volume of energy consumption by miners exceeds 30 kW, it will be considered “a large volume of illegal consumption”, for which the amendments to the Criminal Code provide for a prison sentence of up to three years and confiscation of mining equipment, writes RBC.
Due to problems with electricity supply, the republic asked Russia to supply 327 million kWh of electricity for free by 2025, but the Abkhazian government’s request was ignored, Kommersant writes. Currently, electricity supplies to Abkhazia are carried out from Russian networks under a contract valid until the end of this year.
Author:
Mikhail Zelenin
Source: RB
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
