Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia

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Otar Shamugia attends the first session of the Interdepartmental Commission

The Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture Mr. Otar Shamugia attended the first session of the Interdepartmental Commission, which studies issues of improving ambient air quality.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture chairs the Commission, which works on various thematic state programs to improve the quality of atmospheric air. The commission embraces all relevant government agencies and legal entities under public law.

A wide range of issues, including, current air pollution conditions in the target cities (Tbilisi, Batumi and Rustavi), the national air quality management system, measures envisaged by the EU technical assistance project and future plans were discussed during the session.

"The sources of ambient air pollution are considered as issues with multiple facets, therefore, the complex approach and active cooperation between the state agencies are required to deal with the aforementioned problem.

In recent years, several important measures have been carried out with the active involvement of state agencies, which had a positive impact on the improvement of ambient air quality, entailing the tightening of state control on fuel quality, resetting mandatory technical inspection of vehicles, improving public transportation technology, taking control on the regulation of emissions from the industrial sector, increasing sanctions for cases of environmental pollution", said Mr. Otar Shamugia.

As mentioned by parties, the current reform of ambient air quality management is based on the experience of the EU countries and the directives determined by the EU-Georgia Association Agreement

As a result of the changes made to the Law of Georgia "On Ambient Air Protection" in 2020, the national legislation has fully converged with the framework legislation of the European Union in the field of ambient air quality management.

The Ministry has started developing three plans for the management of atmospheric air quality to solve the problem of air pollution in large cities and industrial centers. The respective documents will comply with the requirements of the national legislation and the best European practices.

In particular, with the support of the European Union, two plans will be developed - for Tbilisi agglomeration and for the Black Sea areas, which includes the city of Batumi as well. The third plan will be developed with the support of the Swedish International Development Agency for the central zone, which includes the town of Rustavi.

I would like to express my gratitude to the representatives of the European Union for their support, and I will emphasize, that experienced experts of the European Union will help us to plan measures. Hence,  implementation of the respective measures will contribute to the improvement of air quality in big cities", the Minister said.