Vasil Khorava, CEO of Wissol, says global oil prices continue to hit record highs, impacting fuel costs in Georgia. He predicts that fuel prices will rise further in April, as local companies gradually exhausted their two-week reserves, which until now had softened the effect of international price increases.
During March, fuel prices in Georgia increased between 15 and 59 tetri, with diesel seeing the sharpest rise. On the international market, diesel jumped from $700 to $1,404 per metric ton, while gasoline also increased, though less dramatically. Despite minor global price corrections, the local market experienced only gradual adjustments, as importers relied on existing stockpiles to manage price changes.
Khorava explains that without these reserves, diesel prices could have been over 1 GEL higher. The gradual price adjustments prevented sudden shocks, but the global upward trend continues, and minor reductions in oil prices did not significantly affect Georgia’s weighted average fuel costs. April is therefore expected to start with considerably higher prices than March.
Historically, fuel peaks sometimes fall quickly, but at present, the upward trend dominates. Khorava emphasizes that the record-breaking series of global oil price increases is ongoing, and predicting when prices will stabilize or decline remains difficult, as the local market continues to adjust to rising international costs.
