(Tbilisi, August 19, 2003, Civil Georgia) – Power supply in a part of Georgian regions, including the capital city of Tbilisi was restored on August 18 after Russia started to provide the country with electricity via reserve power transmission line.
Entire Georgia was blacked out in the morning on August 18, as a result of damage to a high voltage power line in western Georgia. Officials say a gunshot could be the reason for its damage.
Blackouts in Tbilisi followed the recent sale by the U.S. company AES, of a 75 percent stake in the Telasi electricity distribution !
facility to Russia’s state-owned Unified Energy Systems. A major blackout also came on Mamuka Nikolaishvili’s first day of work as Energy Minister.