Georgia will save millions each year by importing electricity directly from Azerbaijan, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has said, as he announced that intermediary companies will no longer be used.
“Electricity will no longer be imported from any country through an intermediary,” he told a government meeting in Tbilisi on Wednesday.
“In particular, in the case of Azerbaijan, eliminating the intermediary will allow the state to save several million lari annually, (approximately nearly a million dollars) which is quite significant.”
Georgia relies on imports to meet part of its electricity demand, particularly in winter, when hydropower output falls.
According to reports, Azerbaijan exported 194.88 million kWh of electricity (valued at $11.58 million) to Tbilisi in the first seven months of 2026.
Both Georgia and Azerbaijan signed a comprehensive intergovernmental agreement earlier this year in May in Baku, regarding supplying and transiting electricity. This agreement was ratified by President Ilham Aliyev in July and is set to last 20 years.
The two countries are also working alongside Türkiye and Bulgaria to negotiate an expanded overland electricity transit corridor to deliver energy to Europe.
Between 2017 and 2022, Azerbaijan was the biggest supplier, providing the country with two thirds of its electricity imports, according to an analysis by NGO Transparency International Georgia from 2023.
Separately, United Nations trade data shows that Georgia imported more than $247 million of Azerbaijani electricity between 2016 and 2023.
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