A separate department staffed by professionals with local and international market expertise might be needed to manage electricity imports after the government’s decision to remove intermediary companies, - Giorgi Margebadze, head of the Small and Medium Hydropower Association, said.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said electricity imports would no longer be conducted through intermediaries, including from Azerbaijan, which he said would save the state several million lari annually.
Margebadze said electricity trading on foreign markets often involves private traders rather than foreign state agencies and requires deep market knowledge, financial expertise and strong negotiation skills. Successfully removing intermediaries could reduce procurement costs by eliminating their margins and lower ESCO’s overall tariff.
He said the savings should instead support domestic generation. According to Margebadze, higher construction and resource costs have made tariffs set through the first two auctions insufficient for developers to build new power plants. He suggested using the freed-up funds to revise tariffs, hold new auctions and support developers, strengthening Georgia’s energy sector.
