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Otar Shamugia: "The sanction for the pollution of the Black Sea is getting stricter – GEL 65,000 fine is increasing to GEL 100,000".
At the end of the government session, the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Mr. Otar Shamugia, commented on the draft amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses, noting that the sanctions for several environmental offences are being tightened.
"It is important for us to take effective steps to reduce environmental pollution and fight against poaching. The sanction for the pollution of the Black Sea is getting stricter – GEL 65,000 fine increases to GEL 100,000. It is important for us to take effective steps in the fight against poaching, to prevent violations of other environmental laws. Therefore, we have to take certain measures towards tightening sanctions. We are actively retooling and equipping the Department of Environmental Supervision to make their work more effective; Obviously, prevention is crucial, and already this year we have tightened sanctions in several directions, including illegal forest use, mining, and transportation. All this serves the maximum protection of biodiversity", said Mr. Otar Shamugia.
It should be mentioned that the vast majority of Black Sea pollution occurs when ships sailing under the flag of a foreign country engage in international navigation.
Black Sea Protection Convention Division of the Department of Environmental Supervision detected 63 violations last year, 21 of which included pollution of the Black Sea by ships. According to current data, 65 violations of the law were detected in 2023. There were 16 cases of ships polluting the sea. The international practice of the Black Sea countries showed that, in comparison to Georgia, these countries had substantially higher fine sanctions.
Therefore, to harmonize fines for sea pollution with those of the Black Sea countries, the proposed project considers increasing fines for Black Sea pollution from GEL 65,000 to GEL 100,000.
The fines for violating Georgian legislation will be increased, specifically for spilling (dumping, discharging) harmful, polluting substances into the sea, as well as dropping industrial, technical, or other types of waste and/or material into the sea, including violating burial rules from ships, other floating means, platforms, pipelines, or other artificially constructed structures.