Georgian National Competition Agency Publishes Annual Report on Fuel Import in January-April 2022
By Khatia Bzhalava
Thursday, May 19, 2022
Georgian National Competition Agency has published an interim report on the fuel market which shows that in the first four months of the year, the largest fuel importer in Georgia was Romania with 31.2 percent of the share, followed by Bulgaria with 24.1 percent and Russia with 17.8 percent.
The report has revealed that In January-April 2022, 385 678 thousand liters of gasoline and diesel were imported into Georgia by 22 companies, with the share of the three largest importing companies in total imports amounting to 69 percent. Diesel fuel accounted for 35.9 percent of the total imports, while for gasoline the figure was 64.1 percent.
According to the agency, the first half of January-April 2022 was characterized by an upward trend in oil prices on global markets and a depreciation of the lari exchange rate, while in the second half a trend of strengthening of the Georgian currency and the decrease in the price of oil was observed. The statement reads that as of April 30, prices in Lari were showing an 18 percent reduction on Platts ( a leading supplier of information and analytics to global markets), however, the agency says that a relatively high price is still observed, marking a 41 percent average increase compared to January.
The Agency also notes that the fuel imported from the Russian Federation has a significantly lower cost compared to that imported from European countries, although in the case of large companies on the retail market, the Russian- originated fuel was available at an “identical price” to the fuel imported from European countries.
The report has also revealed that 55% of the country's imported fuel is European, while 45% is imported from the Russian Federation, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan.
