Georgia’s Energy Ombudsman stresses stricter gas regulations for consumer safety
The current legislation obliges the gas company to check the safety of natural gas networks only once a year. Photo: KazTransGas Tbilisi.
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Regulations on the provision of gas to Georgian consumers must be made stricter, says the Energy Ombudsman of Georgia Salome Vardiashvili.
She also said that KazTransGas Tbilisi, which is the affiliate of Kazakh gas company KazTransGas, is not responsible for yesterday’s tragedy when seven people died as a result of a carbon monoxide leak in a Tbilisi apartment located at 67 Ketevan Tsamebuli Avenue.
Today the Emergency Management Service announced that after cleaning the smoke pipe of the heater they found a bird nest, which caused gas accumulation and took the lives of seven people.
Vardiashvili explained that the current legislation obliges the gas company to check the safety of natural gas networks only once a year.
I understand this is not enough. I also agree that any equipment that the company says is dangerous to life must be prohibited. Regulation of the internal gas network should be stricter and should be reestablished”, said Vardiashvili.
KazTransGas Tbilisi declared the apartment’s water heater had been illegally and improperly installed. A company representative said that KazTransGas Tbilisi employees checked and disconnected the water heater earlier which had been incorrectly installed.
A residential building in Didi Digomi, Tbilisi, where natural gas blast claimed 4 lives on January 16. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
Vardiashvili said that recent cases prove that citizens do not obey the warnings of the gas company, arbitrarily instal the devices which are disconnected by the gas company employees.
To overcome this challenge the law must be tightened in administrative code.
Georgia’s legislative body is also considering to tighten natural gas consumption rules. So far it is unknown when the legislative package will be sent to the parliament.
Deputy Economy Minister Natia Turnava also announced last month that regulations on the provision of gas to Georgian consumers will be more stringent.
Seven people have died as a result of a carbon monoxide leak in a Tbilisi apartment located at 67 Ketevan Tsamebuli Avenue.
Regulations on the provision of gas to Georgian consumers will be more stringent, announces Deputy Economy Minister Natia Turnava.
The Energy Ombudsman of Georgia Salome Vardiashvili has begun studying the case of yesterday’s powerful explosion in a residential building in Tbilisi’s Didi Digomi district.
The price of natural gas will be reduced in Georgia’s capital of Tbilisi as well as in the regions, announces the Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulatory Commission.
Employees of the KazTransGas company improperly inspected a residential building in Tbilisi’s Didi Digomi district that caused a deadly blast on January 16, killing four and leaving eight others injured, claims Georgian Energy Ombudsman Salome Vardiashvili whose office has completed an investigation into the case.
One individual has received injuries due to an explosion on Tevdore Mgvdeli Street in Didube district of Tbilisi earlier today.
Under 2019-2021 Gasification Action Plan, the number of districts to be gasified will increase to 300, including about 60 settlements in the Imereti region, west Georgia, announces the Ministry of Economy.
Gazprom is not considering lowering the price of natural gas for Georgia, and says the price will remain the same, said the press service of the company to Russian news agency TASS.
The staff of Tbilisi Energy detected 738 wrongly installed gas devices in the capital city in the last month alone, which frequently cause fatal accidents in the country, especially during the cold season.