“New regulations on the import, first and temporary registration of vehicles do not apply to electric vehicles,” announced Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Nino Tandilashvili.

According to the Deputy Minister, the older the vehicle, the older is the engine, therefore increasing emissions.

“Euro 5/V emission standards apply to 10-year-old vehicles. After ten years, the engine gets so old that no matter how well-maintained it is, the emissions from the car still increase. Therefore, a restriction was imposed on age. The regulation will not apply to electric cars.

We have a 25% annual increase in car imports in the country, where the share of hybrid cars is not increasing. The share of vehicles powered by diesel and petrol engines is increasing. This increasing tendency should be reduced, which will reflect the air quality.

New regulations will help modernize the vehicle fleet and reduce air pollution, which will result in a certain improvement of the situation. On the one hand, we should move around in cities, in our living environment. If we add vehicles indefinitely, one day it will be physically impossible to move around; On the other hand, our objective is to improve the air quality,” she said.

The Georgian government has adopted a resolution banning the import, initial and temporary registrations of M1 category vehicles older than six years starting April 1.