Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Mariam Kvrivishvili met with representatives of the Georgian Renewable Energy Development Association (GREDA) to discuss a draft law concerning the distribution of property taxes paid by power stations. The parties examined the directions set out in the bill, which provides for the direct, equitable, and effective use of the long-term benefits generated by renewable energy resources in the communities where energy projects are situated.
According to the press office of the Ministry of Economy, the draft law was prepared jointly by the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development and GREDA. The legislation aims to introduce a support mechanism for distributing the long-term benefits derived from renewable energy power stations, primarily by channelling a defined share of property tax revenues directly towards the needs of the community or village in which the generating facility is built. As was noted at the meeting, the fact that substantial sums from property taxes will be directed towards the development of local settlements is also expected to improve communication between investors and local residents, and to generate greater public interest in new power station projects.
Significantly, the bill provides for the establishment of a working group from the very outset of the construction phase of an energy project. Individuals appointed by the local settlement’s general assembly and civil society will have the opportunity to participate in this group. It will be the working group’s remit to determine how a defined share of the property tax revenues from generating facilities is to be managed and towards which local projects those funds should be directed.
The working meeting at the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development was attended, alongside Minister Kvrivishvili, by Deputy Minister Inga Pkhaladze, Deputy Finance Minister Giorgi Kakauridze, Aleksandre Sokhadze, Head of the Ministry of Economy’s Department of Energy Policy and Investment Projects, and Ana Gogoladze, Head of the Energy Reforms Department.
