Entrepreneurs have threatened the Batumi administration with round-the-clock protests.
Electric car rental owners announced a 24-hour protest outside the Adjara government building due to the ban on their use on Batumi Boulevard.
As reported by Kavkazsky Uzel, in May 2019, electric car owners in Batumi ended their protest, which had lasted several days. The protest was ended after an agreement was reached with the Adjara government administration. According to the agreement, the electric car rental area will shift from the Old Boulevard to the New Boulevard, where they will travel between the Dolphinarium and the New Boulevard.
The Batumi City Council has decided to ban electric car drivers from driving along Batumi Boulevard effective May 1, 2019, due to the increasing number of pedestrian collisions. On April 22, electric car owners held a protest outside the government building in Tbilisi demanding a one-year postponement of the ban. On April 26, entrepreneurs set up tents on Batumi Boulevard and declared a hunger strike.
In Batumi, owners of electric vehicles, who until recently operated by renting out equipment on New Boulevard, attended a pro-European protest rally near the Constitutional Court on May 11, according to the publication Batumelebi.
Entrepreneurs have been gathering outside the city administration for almost a week, demanding a review of the decision banning them from operating on Batumi Boulevard. They say they've been without income for over a month.
"We're joining the pro-European rally in Batumi. I don't think such injustice is acceptable to anyone," one protester said live on air.
Another protester said he was only concerned about the disruption of electric car service on the boulevard and that he knew nothing about the rally. "I'm not joining this rally. I know nothing about it; I'm apolitical," he said.
The rental car owners say they haven't been able to operate on the boulevard for two months and are stuck. After several meetings and appeals, Archil Antadze, head of the Batumi Boulevard administration, proposed placing electric vehicles on and near the water park and operating them only in this area.
Until now, vehicle owners were allowed to operate their vehicles on the new boulevard. Their use on the old boulevard was banned by the Batumi City Council at the administration's initiative due to numerous collisions and incidents.
Despite the fact that electric vehicles were only permitted on the New Boulevard—up to the area near the dolphinarium—violations were also recorded in Old Batumi. According to the administration, in August 2025 alone, 25 people were fined for violating ATV and electric vehicle traffic rules. Overall, the monitoring service identified 70 different violations over the quarter, but it is unknown how many of them were related specifically to non-compliance with traffic regulations, according to the publication "Georgia-online."
According to the protesters, agreeing to restrictions is pointless, as they have "300 ATVs and dozens of scooters." They are demanding permission to operate on the entire boulevard, including the old boulevard.
The protesters stated that they will not leave the area until they receive an official response. They hope that the new Chairman of the Adjara Government, Zurab Pataradze, will reverse his predecessor's decision.
The Batumi Boulevard in Batumi, the capital of Adjara, is approximately 7 kilometers long. Its construction began in the 19th century and was completed in the 21st century: in 2004, the existing park along the sea was extended by 1,200 meters. This extension was called the "New Boulevard," and all the new buildings erected around it were soon dubbed "New Batumi," according to the article "Attracting Batumi," published on the "Caucasian Knot."
"Caucasian Knot" also reported that on May 1, taxi drivers and couriers held a march in the Georgian capital, Kutaisi, and Batumi. The participants protested their working conditions, noting that working at the current rate is unacceptable for them.