Competition Agency: import of gasoline, diesel up 7.2% in Georgia in 2021

Georgia imported 1,453,707 litres of gasoline and diesel in 2021, marking a 7.2 percent increase compared to the previous year, an annual report of the Georgian National Competition Agency reads. 

Diesel fuel accounted for 45.7 percent of total imports, while for gasoline the figure was 54.3 percent and the largest originating countries were Turkmenistan with 22.1 percent, Russia with 19.2 percent and Romania with 18.2 percent.

In related numbers, the Agency also said the increase in the number of gas stations in Georgia by about 272 units since the beginning of 2015 was mainly due to the entry of new economic agents into the local market and the activation of the small network segment.

It also said the total share of the five major economic agents operating in the retail fuel market was 58.8 percent, while the total share of other companies was around 41.2 percent as of 2021. 

In 2021, there was a change in the composition of the five largest companies operating in the [fuel] market. The entry of a new company into the top five [economic agents] is a positive circumstance in terms of assessing the competitive environment in the market,” the report reads.

The largest company on Georgia’s fuel market is Rompetrol, with the share of the three largest companies amounting to 45 percent, the report said. 

The Agency also called on the economic agents operating in the local market, as well as sectoral associations, to refrain from announcing future fuel prices regardless of whether those statements were based on ongoing processes in the international market, saying the speculation could be considered a breach of the competition law. 

The Agency noted the increasing number of gas stations in the country affected retail prices.