Economy Minister says Georgian Energy Exchange will probably not launch in September amid “increased risks” in region

The Georgian Energy Exchange will probably not be launched in September amid "increased risks in the region", Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili said at a press briefing on Monday.

Designed as a platform for electricity trading to supply the domestic market, the Exchange aims to become a regional hub used by coupled market participants for cross-border trading purposes. The Exchange also aims to ensure transparent and competitive markets and provide accurate price signals to existing and potential market participants.

A reform of this scale in the field of energy has not been implemented since independence [in the early 1990s]. We are still analysing this issue and discussions are still going on in order not to harm the economy. It is very important to state directly that today is not the best time for the market to operate in a free mode due to the fact that the situation in the region is the most difficult it has ever been", Davitashvili said in explanations on the timing of the initiative.

The Minister noted the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and the resulting “sharp” increase in prices on energy resources.

Hostilities are going on between two important economic partners. Accordingly, issues of energy security move to another dimension. We've seen energy prices skyrocket [and] Georgia, unfortunately, still depends on imports. Unfortunately, the rapid growth of our economy is fuelled by imported electricity - especially during peak periods, in the winter months", Davitashvili said.

Davitashvili said the platform was ready from a technical point of view to become “fully operational” at the right time, and added the Government would announce the final decision “soon”.