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Opposition politician Aleko Elisashvili, who is in pretrial detention on attempted terrorism charges over his alleged efforts to set fire to the Tbilisi City Court chancellery in November, has now been charged with terrorism over a separate, similar incident in May, in which the Prosecutor General’s Office said he set fire to the court’s archive. While Elisashvili had admitted his involvement in the November incident, his lawyers dismissed the new accusations.
A March 30 statement by the Prosecutor General’s Office said that on May 4, 2025, around 3:44 a.m. in Tbilisi, Elisashvili, “equipped with items necessary to carry out a terrorist act and with his face covered by a mask,” approached the rear of the Tbilisi City Court building, where the court’s archive is located.
The statement is accompanied by multiple CCTV recordings comparing two Tbilisi City Court incidents – November 29, 2025, and May 4, 2025 – alleging that the masked men with backpacks in both are Elisashvili.
According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, on May 4, Elisashvili first “climbed a ventilation duct and tried to open a window” but failed, then went down the stairs and “threw a flammable petroleum-based substance into the archive room through the window, sparking a fire.”
“He returned to another window near a second archive room, climbed the duct again, and set fire to the window and wires,” the statement said, adding that the suspect’s actions caused a fire “on the building’s exterior and in the archive” before firefighters extinguished it.
Elisashvili, jailed since November, faces up to 15 years in prison under Article 323 of Georgia’s Criminal Code, which covers terrorism.
Days before the announcement of the new charges, on March 24, Elisashvili said that he did not want to be considered a “political prisoner,” suggesting that the ruling party appeared to be using his name and case to discredit others widely believed to be jailed for political reasons. He said that if any “list” of political prisoners were requested or compiled for their release, he did not want to be included.
Aleko Elisashvili’s Citizens party joined the Strong Georgia alliance, led by Lelo, ahead of the October 26, 2024, parliamentary elections and remained a member even after other parties left, including over Lelo’s decision to participate in the partially boycotted 2025 municipal vote. Elisashvili also briefly fought against Russian forces in Ukraine shortly after the full-scale invasion in 2022.
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The post Opposition Politician Aleko Elisashvili Charged With ‘Terrorism’ in Separate Incident first appeared on The South Caucasus News – SouthCaucasusNews.com.
Electricity tariff in Georgia
Electricity tariffs are rising in Georgia, with household consumers set to pay an additional 5 tetri (about $0.02) per kWh, while prices for the commercial sector will increase by an average of 4–6 tetri ($0.015–$0.022).
The new rates will apply to electricity consumed from 1 April 2026 and will affect both Tbilisi and other regions across the country.
According to the Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulatory Commission (GNERC), the increase is driven mainly by the country’s reliance on imported electricity and higher procurement costs.
According to Georgia’s National Energy and Water Supply Regulatory Commission (GNERC), the rise in tariffs is driven not only by the country’s reliance on imported electricity but also by higher procurement costs. The Commission also notes that the scale of planned investments under the new tariff period has been factored into the price increase.
These investments—totalling about 2 billion lari (approximately $746 million)—are aimed at gradually rehabilitating the electricity distribution system and reducing outages. GNERC says this will lead to more reliable power supply and fewer interruptions for consumers.
GNERC says that Energo-Pro Georgia plans to invest an average of 200 million lari (around $74.6 million) annually between 2026 and 2030, amounting to roughly 1 billion lari ($373 million). In addition, the company will invest a further 129 million lari ($48.1 million) over three years through external financing, which will not affect consumer tariffs.
Over the same period, investments planned by Telasi exceed 400 million lari (about $149.2 million). In total, more than 1.5 billion lari (approximately $559.7 million) will be spent in the coming years on rehabilitating the electricity network and improving service quality—an unprecedented level of investment, according to GNERC.
The Commission says these projects will help reduce technical problems, support the integration of renewable energy sources, and expand opportunities for new energy projects in the business sector.
GNERC notes that electricity tariffs were reduced by 3 tetri (about $0.011) in 2024–2025. Compared to 2023 levels, the new tariff represents a net increase of just 2 tetri (around $0.007).
The earlier reduction was linked to a higher share of cheaper electricity following the rehabilitation of the Enguri hydropower plant, favourable hydrological conditions, and partial substitution of imports with relatively inexpensive electricity generated by thermal power plants.
According to GNERC, the current increase has been set at a minimal and balanced level to avoid a double-digit rise in tariffs for the commercial sector.
The new electricity tariffs vary depending on consumption levels and voltage categories.
For Telmico customers in Tbilisi, household tariffs start at 20.041 tetri (about $0.075) and rise to 28.537 tetri (around $0.106) as consumption increases. For the commercial sector, tariffs range from 27.762 tetri (approximately $0.104) to 35.261 tetri (about $0.132).
For EP Georgia Supply, which operates in the regions, household tariffs begin at 19.731 tetri (around $0.074) and increase to 28.227 tetri (approximately $0.105). Commercial tariffs range from 30.322 tetri (about $0.113) to 35.713 tetri (around $0.133).
According to GNERC, despite the increase, electricity prices in Georgia remain among the lowest compared with neighbouring countries as well as European markets.
Electricity tariff in Georgia
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