Georgia on Saturday announced that it had launched an investigation into a two-day nationwide power outage in the South Caucasus nation on suspicion of sabotage.
In a statement on the US social media company Facebook, the Georgian State Security Service said the investigation is in progress under Article 318 of the country’s Criminal Code, which it said refers to “disrupting the normal functioning of a state enterprise or other important facilities or damaging/destroying them with the aim of endangering the state interests of Georgia.”
“The State Security Service will inform the public about the progress of the investigation in stages,” the statement added.
An initial nationwide blackout hit Georgia on Friday at 12.10 am local time (2010GMT Thursday), according to the Georgian State Electrosystem, the country’s state-owned electricity transmission system operator.
The operator declared a second nationwide outage Saturday morning, which it said took place around 8 am local time, later adding the supplies were fully restored by 10.15 am local time.
It added that the cause of the outages was still being determined and that it would later provide additional information.
