In the last eight years, approximately 700 000 catalytic converters were exported from Georgia. The announcement comes from Noe Megrelishvili, the Head of the Ambient Air Division of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture.
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“Unfortunately, the export is very large-scale. According to the data of the Ministry of Finance, if I’m not mistaken, 700 000 converters have been taken out of the country since 2015, which is a catastrophic figure, I can safely say.
Our pool of registered vehicles consists of about a million and a half, but not all are functional, so if we estimate that about a million are active, 700 000 cars with removed converters is a very grim picture.
Because of this, cars registered after April 2020 are required to have catalytic converters fitted during the planned technical inspection,” said Noe Megrelishvili at the press conference.
According to him, a practice has been established where car owners will borrow or rent catalytic converters for the day of the inspection.
“To offset this, in the largest cities - Tbilisi, Batumi, Kutaisi, and Rustavi, where the issue of air pollution is most pronounced, we are starting to police emissions on the roads. At the first stage, workers of the Department of Environmental Supervision will stop the vehicles that exhibit visual signs of excess emissions, check them with specialized equipment, and if the requirements are not met, apply relevant sanctions. This will result in the reduction of this harmful practice, and cars will operate with proper combustion systems not for a day, but constantly,” said Megrelishvili.
The export of car catalysts from Georgia will be banned for three years. As the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Otar Shamugia, said, the relevant government resolution will be signed in the next few days and it will come into force immediately.
In addition, from January 1, 2024, the import of passenger cars manufactured before 2013 will be banned, and from 2025, this ban will extend to buses and trucks. The government explains these decisions with the problem of air pollution caused by defective cars.
