On January 27, 2020, residents of the village of Kere, located near the occupation line, held a protest demanding the status of a mountain settlement.

They had previously made the same demand in 2018 through a protest, as neighboring villages had already received this designation. According to various data, Kere is situated at an elevation between 800 and 1,030 meters above sea level — a key criterion for obtaining this status.

During the 2020 protest, residents gathered at the village entrance near a police checkpoint, since journalists were not being allowed into the village by law enforcement. Protesters demanded a meeting with government representatives.

They sought the mountain settlement status to improve their social conditions. Under the Law on the Development of Mountainous Regions, which came into effect on January 1, 2016, residents of recognized mountain settlements were eligible for tax and social benefits, while entrepreneurs in these regions were exempt from certain taxes for 10 years.

Kere residents complained about poor road conditions, a lack of water infrastructure, and demanded the construction of a kindergarten and the renovation of the local school building.

Representatives from the Shida Kartli regional administration and Gori Municipality met with protesters, promising that several infrastructure projects would be implemented in 2020 and that the issue of granting mountain settlement status would soon be resolved positively.

According to the Shida Kartli Information Center, in May 2020 the Georgian government submitted a legislative amendment package to Parliament that included granting mountain settlement status to 11 villages near the occupation line in Gori Municipality — including Kere.