Georgia: Fuel Wholesaler Organisation Issues Awards

Head of the Union, Ivane Mtvralashvili said that when the awards were being judged, a key factor was the contribution the companies had made to the country .  Mr Mtvralashvilli said  “6 years ago, when this awards ceremony began, the oil production market in Georgia was chaotic. It was full of smuggled petrol which prevented companies operating successfully and adversely affected the development of the country. Six years ago the winning company in the tax payer category had paid only 60 million GEL to budget, last year it was 400 million GEL.

SOCAR Georgia Petroleum Ltd was named the winner in the nomination “The largest taxpayer to the state budget of Georgia” as the amount of the sum paid by the company totaled 162,000,000 GEL.

Wissol Petroleum Georgia was awarded in four nominations. Wissol was named as the company owning the largest network of petrol stations. The company runs 75 service centers across the country. It was also named the biggest employer in the oil sector, with 1,886 staff. Wissol has now won this award six times. Wissol was also awarded for high sense of Corporate Social responsibility and considerable input in Georgian state budget.

General Director of Wissol Petroleum of Georgia Vasil Khorava said that each award and nomination are very important for them. “The company has won four awards, and despite the hard year Wissol increased its number of employees and petrol stations. To hold similar events is very important because every nomination is another confirmation of the quality of the company and its products. The awards also bestow more responsibility on consumers to help our company and its activities become more successful." Wissol is the exclusive distributor company of Euro 5 standard Italian petroleum in Georgia, the highest quality available.

GT Group is the biggest payer having paid 1.419 million GEL into the state budget in 2009.  Last year, Socar made the biggest investments in the field: 30.616 million GEL. Blakh Sea Oil terminal was named the best infrastructure oil and oil products terminal.  

David Zubitashvili, General Director of Socar Georgia Petroleum, a subsidiary of Socar Energy Georgia: “Socar Petroleum Georgia has been holding top positions since  2007. We just got used to all these awards and leader acknowledgments that we’re not going to give it up in the future. In 2010, our service station network expansion will remain our priority as well as infrastructure development and the attraction of additional investments. Another very important project is the construction of the oil terminal.”

Lukoil Georgia was named the best foreign oil company. Black Sea Terminal won the award for having the best oil and oil products infrastructure. The Income Service of the Georgian Finance Ministry was also given an award for improving the business environment in the oil sector.

Revenue Service of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia won the nomination of the competitive and transparent environment development in the oil field.

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