By Tskriala Shermadini (Studio Monitori)

A cloud is hanging over the Republic of Georgia, a country that promotes itself as a tourism heaven of spectacular mountains and clean, fresh air.

Independent lab tests have confirmed what many Georgians suspected: much of the fuel burned by the nation’s drivers is far dirtier than would be allowed in any European Union country, and the country’s weak enforcement standards are giving rise to deeper worries about spikes in respiratory disease.

The tests show that the dirtiest fuel is coming from neighboring Azerbaijan, which may have policy implications for Georgia, since the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), which exports the fuel, is Georgia’s largest taxpayer. A sample of SOCAR diesel fuel tested 60 times higher than the current European standard.

Irakli Zubitashvili, head of the Quality Assurance Department for SOCAR Petroleum Georgia,refused numerous requests to discuss these laboratory results.

SOCAR is wholly owned by the Government of Azerbaijan. SOCAR Energy Georgia, which is 51 percent owned by SOCAR and 49 percent owned by two United Arab Emirate-based companies (Heritage General Trading FZE and Petro-Trans FZCO), is the largest taxpayer in the country (about US$74.271 million in 2013).  SOCAR Energy Georgia controls the natural gas distribution network in 30 regions of Georgia and operates the Kulevi Oil Terminal at Georgia’s Black Sea port of Poti.

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