Georgian PM highlights Gov’t’s goal to make Georgia fully self-sufficient in electricity, exporter of energy in medium term

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Wednesday said his Government’s strategic goal was to make Georgia fully self-sufficient in electricity and an exporter of energy in the medium term.

In his remarks, Kobakhidze noted that achieving this goal required rapid development of the energy system, adding that all barriers that hinder the development of the system must be removed.

He further added that both personnel and project costs were optimised in state-owned enterprises operating in the energy sector, as a result of which the state saved ₾349 million ($129.8 million) in one-time savings and ₾25 million (9.3$ million) annually.

“As you know, over the past few months, significant changes have been made to improve the management of the energy sector. Both personnel and project costs have been optimized in state-owned enterprises operating in the energy sector, as a result of which the state saved ₾349 million [$129.8 million] in one-time and ₾25 million [9.3$ million] annually. Naturally, the saved funds will be used for the development of the energy system as a whole and, accordingly, the economy”, the PM said.

“In parallel with the optimisation, we have completely reviewed the energy policy. For months, an active analysis of all the challenges in the sector has been underway, and vicious practices in various directions have been identified and eliminated. As you know, our strategic goal is for Georgia to become fully self-sufficient in terms of electricity supply and an electricity exporter in the medium term, which requires the rapid development of the energy system. To achieve this, all barriers that hinder the development of the system must be removed”, he continued.

Kobakhidze noted that his Government's goal was to resume all suspended processes and remove all barriers that prevented the construction of new energy facilities and the growth of electricity generation.

“Currently, there are 15,000 megawatts of potential energy projects at various stages of development. The state’s task is, on the one hand, to weed out speculative projects that have no real development prospects, and on the other hand, to maximally facilitate the rapid development of all projects that have a bona fide investor and the construction of which the company approaches with due responsibility. Over the past years, such companies have also encountered difficulties that need to be corrected. We have a constant dialogue with companies operating in the energy sector and interested investors and listen to the opinions of specialists in the field. Based on such dialogue and consultations, it has become clear that the sector needs state assistance for development”, he added.

“Our goal is to resume all suspended processes and remove all barriers that prevent the construction of new facilities and the growth of electricity generation. We want to completely restart the process and resume the irreversible development of the energy system on clean energy. From a clean slate, with mutually agreed obligations and within agreed deadlines”, he concluded.