The Interior Ministry said police have seized 148 cryptocurrency mining devices in Mestia municipality in Georgia’s mountainous Svaneti region, as part of an investigation into violations of electricity usage regulations, shortly after authorities announced a broader crackdown on illegal crypto mining in the region amid longstanding electricity shortage concerns.
The measures come amid a years-long struggle with cryptocurrency mining in Svaneti, where households receive free electricity under an informal arrangement dating back to the 1990s. The preferential regime has reportedly encouraged large-scale mining operations, contributing to soaring electricity consumption, overloaded power lines, and recurring outages that have affected residents, businesses, and tourism in Mestia Municipality, the administrative center of Georgia’s popular Svaneti tourism region in the country’s northwest.
According to the Ministry’s June 4 statement, law enforcement officers discovered the mining devices at six different locations in Mestia during investigative activities. The investigation found that local residents had allegedly been using the devices to “systematically generate cryptocurrency and obtain illegal income through the unlawful and illicit consumption of large amounts of electricity.”
Police seized the equipment as evidence and said investigative actions are ongoing to identify individuals potentially involved in the scheme. The investigation is being conducted under Article 229-Prima of Georgia’s Criminal Code, subparagraph “b”, which carries a penalty of up to three years’ imprisonment.
The seizure follows a June 1 announcement by Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Georgian Dream State Minister for Coordination of Law Enforcement Bodies, that electricity meters would be installed in all villages and settlements across Svaneti to curb illegal cryptocurrency mining and excessive electricity consumption in the region.
Mdinaradze said the government was taking “effective steps against illegal business activities that harm the energy sector,” and noted that electricity in Svaneti would “remain free up to a certain consumption limit” despite the introduction of metering.
Describing illegal cryptocurrency mining as one of Mestia Municipality’s key challenges, Mdinaradze said excessive electricity consumption has led to frequent overloading of power lines, damaged the country’s energy sector, disrupted local businesses, and negatively affected tourism. He also added that the cost of Svaneti’s free electricity is affecting every consumer across Georgia, stating that every electricity customer pays approximately GEL 1.5 per month so that the region’s free consumption is covered.
Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, while speaking to journalists on June 4, said Mestia’s electricity consumption is disproportionately high compared to similar municipalities. “While Mestia consumes 133 million kWh, in similar municipalities, electricity consumption does not even reach double digits,” Kobakhidze said, estimating that more than 20 million kWh of electricity is being consumed illegally for cryptocurrency mining.
The metering initiative has been welcomed by the Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulatory Commission (GNERC). GNERC member Givi Sanikidze described the decision as “clearly correct,” arguing that metering would help reduce electricity consumption, ease pressure on the network, and allow distribution company Energo-Pro Georgia to rehabilitate local infrastructure.
Sanikidze also said that Svaneti’s residents had never been granted a formal exemption from electricity payments from the authorities, adding that previous attempts to install meters had repeatedly met resistance from residents.
Electricity consumption in Mestia has risen over the past five years. According to data provided by Energo-Pro Georgia to BMG, consumption increased by 6% year-on-year in 2025 and was 45% higher than in 2021. Consumption stood at 91.1 million kWh in 2020, 101.5 million kWh in 2021, 121.7 million kWh in 2022, 120.2 million kWh in 2023, 124.6 million kWh in 2024, and 132.9 million kWh in 2025.
Energy regulators have repeatedly warned about the challenges posed by cryptocurrency mining in Svaneti in recent years. In 2022, GNERC Chair Davit Narmania described uncontrolled electricity consumption for cryptocurrency mining as a major challenge, identifying Svaneti as one of the country’s most problematic regions after occupied Abkhazia.
In January 2026, Mestia Municipality City Hall warned that electricity supply problems linked to uncontrolled cryptocurrency mining had become “extremely aggravated” and reached a critical stage.
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