SOCAR Georgia Petroleum opens new center

By Azernew

By Rasana Gasimova

A new multifunctional complex of SOCAR Georgia Petroleum, a subsidiary of SOCAR Energy Georgia LLC, opened in Georgia on December 23.

The opening ceremony of the complex, located along the Tbilisi-Sebaki-Leselidze highway near Georgia’s Terkola town was attended by SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev, Georgian Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure Maya Tskitishvili, Georgian Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Natia Turnava, local media reported.

The members of the Georgian government, SOCAR, Azerbaijani embassy in Georgia and media representatives also participated at the event.

Director of SOCAR Georgia Petroleum Levan Giorgadze made an introductory speech at the event. After the grand opening, the guests reviewed the complex.

Along with the filling station, the new multifunctional complex includes a children's entertainment area with slot machines, Way Mart cafe-market, Dunkin’ Donuts and Wendy's catering, GPC pharmacy and Khareba store. The devices for powering electric vehicles were also installed on the territory of the complex.

This is the third multifunctional complex of SOCAR Georgia Petroleum. The first complex is located in Urbnisi, the second one - in Rustavi.

SOCAR launched its activity in Georgia in 2006. In the same year, the Kulevi oil terminal was purchased to transport oil to the western markets.

The company exports gas being extracted at Azerbaijani fields through its own funds to Georgia without participation of foreign companies. Moreover, Georgia receives Azerbaijani gas extracted at Shah Deniz offshore field with participation of SOCAR and foreign companies.

SOCAR has a well-developed global network of petrol stations (gas stations) of the SOCAR brand.

In August 2018, SOCAR Georgia Petroleum commissioned a new petrol station. A gas station that meets modern standards has been opened in the village of Gyzylgadzhili, Marneulsky district of Georgia.

SOCAR Georgia Petroleum accounts for 115 petroleum stations, 16 service centers and 15 oil terminals in the Georgian market, organizes retail and whole sale of oil products of the third parties. SOCAR Georgia Gas supplies and distributes natural gas in the country's regions, manages local networks and serves more than 670,000 subscribers.

SOCAR was the first in Georgia to install stations for charging electric cars. Currently, such charging points are available in six regions of the country.

Currently, 113 gas stations operate under the SOCAR brand in Georgia. The company's share in the retail market is about 16 percent. In 2018, the company sold more than 147 million liters of products at gas stations. SOCAR plans to sell over 160 million liters of oil products at the company's gas stations in Georgia in 2019.

The revenues of SOCAR from operations in Georgia amounted to 1.1 billion manats (5.2 percent down) in 2018.

Currently, SOCAR is the only producer of oil products in Azerbaijan, and operates more than 370 gas (petrol) filling stations in Switzerland, Georgia, Romania and Ukraine. SOCAR is also a co-owner of Turkey's largest petrochemical complex Petkim and other assets in Turkey.