Abkhaz leader Aslan Bzhania appointed Artimon Gabelaia, deputy head of Ochamchire district, as the new acting chief of the district.
Gabelaia replaced his boss Stanislav Amichba, whom, having served the post since May 2020, Bzhania dismissed with the same order.
Amichba’s ousting comes some three weeks after Bzhania threatened, amid severed energy crisis, district heads with dismissals unless they ensured the tendency of decreasing power consumption to 2019 levels. The Abkhaz leader then singled out Ochamchire district among the worst performers with a 56% energy consumption hike compared to 2019, coming second to Tkvarcheli district’s 62%.
But it so far remains unconfirmed whether it was the failure to decrease power consumption behind Amichba’s dismissal.
There have been a number of reshufflings taking place in the occupied region recently. Abkhaz taxation ‘minister’ Daur Kurmazia resigned from the post on February 4, followed by the dismissal of Guram Inapshba, customs committee head. In addition, acting security service chief Robert Kiut was appointed as the new head of the security body.
According to Abkhaz sources, as of January 2020, Ochamchire district was home to 25,901 persons, out of which approximately 10% were ethnic Georgians and 78% were ethnic Abkhaz. The coastal town of Ochamchire, which was home to over 20,000 dwellers in 1989, the majority of which were ethnic Georgians, shrank to 5,276 people as of 2020.
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