According to the government's decision, an amendment was made to the resolution "On the quality norms of motor gasoline," which envisages further approximation of the quality norms of gasoline fuel to the European standards and the norm of all characteristics defined by the relevant European directive.
According to the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture, new parameters have been added to the quality standards of gasoline, which will improve the combustion process in vehicles. As a result, emissions of nitrogen dioxide and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere will be reduced, the agency said.
The Ministry said that the addition of new parameters would not affect the price of gasoline.
"Quality requirements for gasoline have been gradually improved, and when it comes to environmental parameters, it has been in line with the Euro 5 standard since 2017. Besides, amendments were made to the Code of Administrative Offenses and the Criminal Code of Georgia to increase sanctions for violations of motor fuel quality norms significantly. Since 2016, the Department of Environmental Supervision of the Ministry has monitored the quality of motor fuels, including gasoline. In 2020, 301 gasoline samples were taken from 252 petrol stations in two stages, and the characteristics of lead, sulfur, and octane number were determined. In some cases, except for the violation of the octane number norm, no other types of violations were detected," explained the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture.
In 2020, 344 samples of fuel were taken from the reservoirs of 280 petrol stations across the country. In total, only 33 samples of diesel and gasoline failed to meet the norms required by law. This year, a total of GEL 1,602,800 was fined for environmental violations, including fines for violating fuel quality standards.
Bela Gelashvili
News Author