UNM opposition proposes tax cuts, anti-cartel measures to lower fuel prices

Georgia’s opposition United National Movement on Thursday said it has a strategy to reduce fuel prices even if international oil prices continue to rise, the party’s anti-corruption secretary Vaso Urushadze said.

Urushadze stressed the proposed measures include halving the excise tax on fuel, reducing VAT and breaking up alleged cartel agreements in the petroleum products market.

“Price increases in Georgia are not determined only by higher prices on international markets,” Urushadze said, arguing that they also result from what he described as cartel and corrupt agreements in Georgia.

He called for the Competition Agency to respond more quickly to changes in international fuel prices, saying that when global prices fall, reductions should be reflected promptly at petrol stations.

Urushadze also called for action over “ongoing problems” in Georgia’s petroleum products market.