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4.44. (...) Illegally sourced wood and logging became widespread, leading to unsustainability, and was facilitated by lack of controls. In the near term, these trends have continued with legal logging figures in decline, raw timber exports plummeting, and a significant, and growing, trade deficit in wood products (Table 4.8). (...)

4.48. (...) The new Mining Code will be based on the Mining Sector Strategy principles and objectives. According to the authorities, it will be more detailed than the existing Law on Subsoil, and include provisions on different licence categories, environment and social protection, geodata management, fiscal regime, health and safety, and dispute resolution.

4.60. Georgia's main sources of energy are natural gas (45% of its total energy supply in 2019), oil products (26%), and hydropower (15%) (Chart 4.1). Hydropower is the leading domestic source of energy, while natural gas and oil products are almost entirely imported. The local production of natural gas and crude oil is viewed as negligible.

4.61. During the review period, Georgia made various adjustments to its energy legal framework notably in the areas of electricity and gas in order to approximate its legislation to the European Union (EU) energy legislation as provided under its Protocol of Accession to the Treaty Establishing the Energy Community and the Association Agreement with the European Union (Article 300 and Annex XXV). This list of EU directives and regulations subject to approximation refers mostly to electricity, natural gas, oil, and renewable energy.

4.64. Other developments during the review period included the adoption of the Law on Energy Efficiency (May 2020) (...) In 2019, it approved the Energy Strategy of Georgia 2020-30, and also adopted its First National Energy Efficiency Action Plan (NEEAP), which provides for the investment and policy measures to be carried out during 2019-20.

4.67. Most of Georgia's electricity is generated by hydropower, which in 2019 ensured about 76% of the country's electricity needs, the rest being generated by natural gas. In that year, 88 hydropower plants operated in the country [80] and together had an installed capacity of 3,342 MW. Due to Georgia's vast river network, it is estimated that the country could have the capacity to generate 15,000 MW. (...)
[80] Of the 88 hydropower plants, 62 are "small", generating less than 13 MW. Georgia has also one wind power plant and five thermal power plants. National Statistics Office of Georgia, Energy Balance of Georgia 2020.

4.75. (...) Tariffs for electricity generation are unregulated for hydropower plants built after 1 August 2008, and for hydropower plants built before this date generating less than 15 MW. In accordance with the market model concept of 2020 (Article 12 and Appendix 1), tariffs for hydropower plants built before 1 August 2008 with a capacity not exceeding 50 MW will also become unregulated from 2021 onwards. (...)

Table 4.18. Principal international conventions in the transport sector, 2021:
Convention:
Maritime: (...) International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (1973) amended by the Protocol of 1978 (MARPOL 73/78)
Entry Into Force: 1993
(...)

4.163. (...) The Maritime Transport Agency (MTA) under the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development (MESD) is the main regulatory agency with respect to key areas of technical regulation, maritime safety, environmental protection, and maritime labour regulation. (...)

4.177. (...) The Georgian National Tourism Administration (GNTA), a Legal Entity of Public Law under the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development (MESD), is responsible for the formulation and implementation of tourism policy, promotion of sustainable tourism development (...)