Auto importers held a rally near the Rustavi car market, demanding delay in the customs clearance on the vehicles imported after May 1, 2020. They want to prolong customs clearance until the end of the year.
According to Lasha Darbaiseli, chairman of the Auto Importers' Union, the imported cars will be fined with 1000 GEL from March 1, so they have already sent an official letter to the Revenue Service on delay.
"We have applied to the Revenue Service to write off a fine of 1000 GEL or give us the opportunity to sell our cars by the end of the year. However, the answer from them is more threatening,” Lasha Darbaiseli said.
According to him, the problem is that the Rustavi car market is open only from Monday to Friday, it is closed on weekends, due to which sales are reduced.
"The car market is open from Monday to Friday, but it is not enough to run our business steadily. That is why one of our demands is to open the market on weekends,” Lasha Darbaiseli said.
"We want to survive amid crisis. The question is if auto import business will exist in Georgia in the coming years. If we do not receive feedback from government agencies, auto importers will go bankrupt and a neighboring country will take this business. Georgia will lose an annual turnover of up to 700-800 million USD," he added.
