Georgia’s Energy Policy: Overview of Main Directions
On June 7, 2007, the Parliament of Georgia adopted the Resolution on Main Directions of Georgia’s State Energy Policy, which explains the concept of the state energy policy and sets out the ways and means of its implementation. Parliament’s Resolution is based on the Law of Georgia on Electricity and Gas (adopted in 1997) and includes research findings and on perspectives of the development of Georgia’s energy policy and the public policy carried out since Georgia’s independence. With the participation of Georgian energy specialists and foreign experts, several studies have been conducted in Georgia on the implementation of an effective energy policy and insuring energy security. Many of these studies were published and are accessible to interested readers in the Georgian language. For example, in 2002-2003, Georgia’s Strategy for Energy Security was developed under the editorship of Professor Chomakhidze; Georgia’s Energy Strategy, a collective study of well known Georgian scientists and experts, was published in 2004; in 2005 upon request of the new government of Georgia, an expert group created with the Ministry of Energy started working on Georgia’s Energy Strategy, which was completed in 2006 (this strategy has not been published yet). In 2006, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded a study on Georgia’s Gas Security Strategy, consisting of two parts. The author of the first part is American Expert Paul Balonov. The second part was written by Georgian Expert Teimuraz Gochitashvili. Many studies have been carried out and focusing on ways to develop the general sector and assessing specific components. Parliament’s Resolution, however, is not based specifically on these studies.