"This is about the new redistribution of the oil market." Experts say, that the replacement of the fuel of Azerbaijan by the Russian oil, government serves Russian interests.
"We remember statements about the green economy with shadow interests. In this case, we are convinced that this is because there is no real research about the impact of the introduction of Euro 5 standard on diesel imports in Georgia. We are talking about the new redistribution of the oil market, we all know that our strategic partner Azerbaijan is a 40% supplier of oil in Georgia. Everyone knows that Azerbaijan is moving to the Euro 5 standard in 2021, but the Georgian government does not want to wait. The Russian company is Rosneft and its representative in Georgia, Petrokas, which is directly linked to the informal managers who actually make policy decisions in favour of Russia,” - said Vaso Urushadze.
Nika Shengelia, Vice President of the Center for International Studies and Forecasting, thinks that the Georgian government can postpone the transition to a new standard for a year. According to him, if it does not happen, the price of fuel in the Georgian market will increase.