Entrepreneur secures Abkhazia premier’s approval to import mining equipment despite ban

Abkhazia’s Prime Minister Alexander Ankvab privately allowed a local entrepreneur to import cryptocurrency-mining equipment into the republic, despite the ban in place. reports Sputnik Abkhazia.

On December 21, a photo of a government decree signed by the prime minister appeared on social media, authorising the import of 1,747 ASIC miners owned by IP Khurkhumal I.R., temporarily stationed on the customs territory of the Psou border crossing.

In comments to the media, Alexander Ankvab confirmed the authenticity of the document, but noted that the equipment in question would not be connected to the grid. It will be sealed and stored in a village.

“This equipment stood at the border on November 6. It was imported legally; documents exist. The cargo owners paid the corresponding taxes. These people were not engaged in smuggling, they concealed nothing from the state,” explained the prime minister.

He added that the state does not have customs warehouses where such valuable property could be stored.

The entrepreneur Irakli Khurkhumal in an open letter told the local information agency that he is a \”simple man\” from Sukhumi, works as a minibus driver, and \”has no relatives\” in the authorities.

According to him, he bought the mining equipment back in June 2020, when a ban on its import had not even been discussed. Khurkhumal paid 855 thousand rubles in VAT and a customs duty of 82 thousand rubles, after which he approached the government with a request to allow him to take the cargo.

The entrepreneur obtained the equipment on the condition that it would not be used until cryptocurrency mining is officially permitted in the republic.

Earlier in December, the Cabinet of Ministers of Abkhazia banned cryptocurrency mining and restricted the import of equipment to carry it out until 1 June 2021.

Subsequently, police reported the shutdown of 3783 ASIC miners.

Because of the energy-intensive mining of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, Abkhazia has found itself on the brink of a crisis — the republic lacks electricity to meet growing demand from residents and the economy.

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