Natural gas becomes expensive for commercial sector in Georgia
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Wednesday, February 4
Natural gas will become more expensive for the commercial sector in Tbilisi as of March 1. The information stirred-up speculation with regard to increased prices on products in Georgia.
KazTransGas Tbilisi has already begun to notify subscribers and concluding new contracts; otherwise, the company will turn off the gas.
The cost of gas for non-domestic customers will be 0.90 tetri ($1 = 1.99 lari) per cubic meter.
A letter from the special manager of KazTransGas Tbilisi, Gia Benashvili, which is being sent to the subscribers with the contract, states that the subscribers must sign a new contract before February 7.
Communication Manager Eka Saria claimed that the increase in prices was caused because of the recent devaluation of the lari.
“We purchase the product in dollars. We faced a new challenge on the market in September, however we managed to keep prices stable owing to our internal resources,” she said.
An increase in the gas tariff for commercial structures will affect the price of products, (bread in particular) experts believe.
However, Agriculture Minister Otar Danelia assured that the increase in gas price will not cause a rise in the price of bread.
Deputy Minister of Energy Mariam Valishvili stresses however that bread factories will keep lower prices.
“The general increase in price will depend on how many energy components are used in creating certain products. When it comes to bread factories, the institutions have always had a reasonable price and I have information that the price will be preserved,” Valishvili said.
Meanwhile, the bakery owners state that the bread price will go up by 10-15 tetri if they will have to pay more for gas.
