“Energy security is the foundation of a country’s national security. Alternative sources and market diversification are essential,” Lana Galdava, a member of Lelo – Strong Georgia, said in connection with the power outage.

She said preventive measures should be taken and that the public should have been informed if an accident occurred.

“Yesterday’s incident showed us that a population gripped by fear was not provided with information about what had happened or why the electricity had gone out across Georgia. They did not receive text messages, and no official agency made any comment. Even today, we still do not know what actually happened in Georgia.

“This incident once again demonstrated the need to build infrastructure and highly important energy facilities. Energy security is the foundation of a country’s national security. Alternative sources and market diversification are essential, as is ensuring that the population is always kept informed and knows how to act. Preventive measures must be taken, and if an accident occurs, the public must then be provided with the information that is critically important to them,” Galdava said.

For reference, electricity was cut off in Tbilisi and other regions of the country at approximately 12:10 a.m. on July 24. Regarding the cause of the outage, the Georgian State Electrosystem said that it was determining the exact cause of the accident and would provide the public with additional information.