The launch of Georgia’s energy exchange, postponed seven times, may be delayed again indefinitely, GREDA’s Executive Director Maia Melikidze told BMG.
She noted that despite the July 1, 2027 target, there is no real progress report or monitoring, fueling skepticism in the sector. According to Melikidze, the exchange is a tool for qualified and reliable investors, and its operation is directly linked to the country’s energy independence and the planned Black Sea submarine cable project by 2030.
“The energy exchange will give new investors the opportunity to invest more in our country. When we talk about the Black Sea cable project planned for 2030, we need to be ready. The exchange will be one of the enabling mechanisms,” she said. Melikidze emphasized that the quality of action implementation during past delays is unknown to the public.
“Activation was postponed three years in 2024, and six times before that. A decree outlines critical actions, but I have not seen a report. There is no document confirming that, for example, two of the eight listed actions were completed. I don’t have the sense that the exchange will operate on July 1, 2027, because monitoring of task completion is lacking,” Melikidze said. She stressed that the exchange’s role should be to provide detailed information on the reform’s progress and pointed to management and enforcement gaps in the sector.
Under the planned reforms, the “Electricity Market Model Concept” was approved to create a market structure ensuring transparency, investment-friendliness, and organized markets, including day-ahead, daily, and balancing markets. Previously, the transitional model was supposed to operate until July 1, 2025, but the government postponed it again to 2027. In the transitional model, trading occurs with hourly products, while the balancing market operates monthly; full implementation will enable day-ahead and intraday trading, as well as balancing and ancillary services markets.
