The Parliament of Georgia approved a package of legislative initiatives on "Environmental Responsibility" with the third reading, which imposes new obligations on enterprises operating in Georgia.

Amendments have been made to a total of 7 laws, including the Law on Atmospheric Air Protection, according to which large enterprises in Georgia will have to install air monitoring systems.

The implementation of the new regulations is mandatory from June 1, and the new regulation on control of air pollution applies to a total of 85 enterprises.

The new installed devices will monitor whether the air is polluted by a particular company and if the degree of pollution exceeds the established norms. The matter concerns those substances such as lead, sulfur, dust particles, etc.

Businesses will have to incur serious financial expenditures to meet the obligations. As the installation of a self-monitoring system costs over 10-15 thousand EUR. The Businesses claim that installation of one device is required for each disposal point, which means serious expenditures overall.

The business concerns about expenditures are unacceptable for Maia Bitadze, chairperson of the Environment Committee.

"We are talking about the manufactures that mainly produce raw materials and products for the construction sector, such as cement, metal, etc. Of course, the pandemic had a huge impact on the business, but it had the least impact on those businesses, which produce products for the construction sector. Moreover, sales increased last year at the expense of the government subsidy program. Correspondingly, construction has not been suspended for a single day.

Moreover, it will be very difficult to compare what is more difficult - to fill the human lungs with harmful substances or save money and be a state that does not take care of its own citizens," - said Maia Bitadze.