Georgia Increased Natural Gas Imports from Russia by 16.5% in 2023

In 2023, Georgia’s dependence on imports of petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons (natural gas) from Russia and Iran increased compared to the previous year, while imports from Azerbaijan decreased. According to the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, the increase in imports was due to Georgia’s increased annual consumption of gas.

The data provided by the National Statistics Office of Georgia shows that in 2023 Georgia imported 486 thousand tons of gas from Russia, which is 69 thousand tons (16.54%) more than in 2022. In terms of US dollars, Georgia spent $131 million – $19 million (18%) more than in the previous year.

Imports from Iran also increased significantly, although its share in the total purchases is insignificant. In 2022, Georgia imported only 10.38 tons of gas, which increased by 606.5% to 73.28 tons in 2023. Similarly, only $30.65 thousand was spent on Iranian gas in 2022, which quadrupled to $142 thousand.

As for the decrease in imports from Azerbaijan, it was -3.99% decrease: 1.77 million tons instead of 1.84 million tons imported in 2022. The amount spent on the Azerbaijani gas in 2023 was $314 million, which is a decrease of 9.20%.

Commenting on the increased imports from Russia, the Ministry of Economy told Business Media: “In 2022-2023, Georgia’s annual gas consumption increased by 500 million m3 (up to 20%), and as a result, Georgia absorbed the maximum technical limit of supply from Azerbaijan, especially during the winter peak load. The increased demand and the system as a whole were balanced by Russian gas. However, the import was carried out with commercial expediency and served to ensure a stable and continuous supply of the system”.

However, the statistical data show that total gas imports in 2023 were slightly lower than in 2022. In total, 2.254 million tons of gas were imported into Georgia in 2023, which is about 0.2% less than in the previous year.

The share of each country in the total number of imports is the following:

• Azerbaijan – 78.47% in 2023 (81.55% in 2022);
• Russia – 21.53% in 2023 (18.45% in 2022);
• Iran – 0.0033% in 2023 (0.0005% in 2022).

Also Read:

• 29/09/2023 – Watchdog: Georgia’s Economic Dependence on Russia Continues to Increase
• 22/02/2023 – TI Georgia: Georgia’s Economic Dependence on Russia Increased in 2022

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