Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan.10
By Elena Kosolapova - Trend:
Potential investor in the construction of a refinery in the Georgian Poti can get tax remissions, the Deputy Energy Minister of Georgia Mariam Valishvili told reporters Jan.9.
It is reported that the ministry of economy of Georgia earlier announced a survey of interests in connection with this construction.
"We have a law on industrial zones, which supposes tax remissions for investors," said Valishvili. "If an investor wants the status of an industrial zone in Poti, he must fulfill a number of requirements and obtain this status and, correspondingly, he will have tax preferences."
The deputy minister said that the project of construction of the refinery will be an absolutely private project. It is reported that the participation of the government of Georgia in the project is limited by the fact that the investor will be given a plot of land of about 3,259 million square meters with a well-developed infrastructure for such an object.
"There are pipelines, railway, sea port not far from the target area, i.e., it is a very convenient plot in terms of logistics," said Valishvili.
The investor himself will have to find sources of oil supply to the refinery, as well as buyers for the produced oil, and these issues should be reflected in the investment proposal, according to the deputy minister.
"The capacity of the refinery should be at least 2 million metric tons of oil per year, which means that much more oil products than required within the country, will be produced," said the deputy minister. "That means, some part of the oil products must definitely be exported."
She said that a list of companies, which showed interest for this project, will be made in three or four months. The interested companies must submit an application and a package of documents to the ministry of economy, said the deputy minister. She went on to add that a special commission will evaluate these companies, their experience, qualification, and the proposals of projects will be discussed then.
The plant needs to be commissioned before the end of 2018, she said. It must produce Euro-5 standard fuel or light and middle distillates, as well as other oil products that meet the standards introduced by the law of Georgia, according to the deputy minister.
She went on to add that it will be necessary to direct 20 percent of the refinery products to the local market at a discount of 10 percent. It is reported that at least 90 percent of employees of the new refinery should be citizens of Georgia.
Earlier, the First Deputy Economy Minister of Georgia Dimitry Kumsishvili said that the government of Georgia plans to build an oil refinery not in Supsa, but in Poti. He went on to add that the Georgian government announced a survey of interests for the construction of the refinery on the island Nabadi in Poti.
He said that in connection with the construction of the new plant, new jobs will be created, and foreign investments will be made into the economy.
He also said that Russia showed no interest for construction of the refinery.
Russian media outlets reported earlier that along with Russia, Georgia plans to build an energy hub in Supsa. Allegedly, the hub will serve as "a bridge of friendship" between the South Caucasus, Russia and EU.
Within the energy hub project framework, the Supsa Oil Refinery is the first venture to be executed in Supsa.
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