MINISTRY OF ECONOMY
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
OF GEORGIA

In Budapest, the Ministerial Meeting on the implementation of the Agreement on a strategic partnership in the field of green energy development and transmission between Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania and Hungary ended with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in green energy. Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Levan Davitashvili signed the document from the Georgian side.

At the press conference held after the ministerial meeting, Levan Davitashvili spoke about the importance of the “Strategic Partnership” agreement both for the energy security of the European Union as a whole, and from the point of view of energy development in the South Caucasus. According to the Vice Prime Minister, in terms of electricity transmission, Georgia is fully in line with EU priorities and climate goals. In this regard, the Minister of Economy emphasized the importance of the Black Sea submarine cable project in the context of the common goals of the “Partnership Agreement”. According to him, this is an ambitious global initiative that will connect the South Caucasus and the region as a whole with the European Union.

“Today, at the meeting, the current issues regarding the feasibility study of the project were discussed, and further steps were planned to establish a joint venture that will work on its implementation. We hope that this strategic project, which serves to the Europe’s energy security and the development of Georgia’s energy sector, will be successfully implemented. It is the deepest and longest power cable yet, and the initial results of the technical feasibility study are encouraging. Obviously, this is a long-term and quite difficult project, which cannot be implemented without international cooperation,” – Levan Davitashvili stated.

Speaking to the media, the Vice Prime Minister also emphasized that Georgia is a country rich in hydro resources and energy integration with the European Union is important for it. “There are more than 26 thousand rivers in the country and, of course, this is the most important source of renewable energy. However, with common efforts and decisive policies of the government, we are trying to promote the development of more projects with the involvement of both private and public sectors. Our attitude is fully aligned with our climate goals. At this stage, Georgia is only an associate member of the European Union, but we hope that the European Council will make a positive decision in mid-December and we will receive the status of a candidate country for the EU membership,” – Levan Davitashvili added.

According to Levan Davitashvili, partnership in this sector is especially important today, when energy is becoming increasingly green. In addition, as he noted, along with the growth of the economy, the demand for electricity increases, therefore, the parties to the agreement realize how important it is to direct efforts to renewable sources of energy. According to the Minister of Economy, the efforts of the parties to promote international trade and develop the sector were reflected in the signed memorandum.

Members of the Georgian delegation - First Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Romeo Mikautadze, General Director of the JSC State Electricity System Giorgi Gigineishvili and Head of the Department of Energy Policy and Investment Projects of the Ministry of Economy, Jubo Turashvili also took part in the ministerial work in Budapest.

The next ministerial session of the Agreement On strategic partnership in the field of green energy development and transmission will be held in February 2024 in Georgia. According to Levan Davitashvili, by this time the parties will already have initial data on the completion of the research. During this period, the JSC State Electricity System will work with its colleagues in the direction of establishing a new joint venture.