MINISTRY OF ECONOMY
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
OF GEORGIA

First Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Levan Davitashvili took part in the presentation of the new project of the company Hunnewell Cement – the enterprise starts using waste tires as an alternative fuel. The event was held in the space of Kaspi Cement. The Minister of Environment Protection and Agriculture, Otar Shamugia also took part in the event.

As the First Vice Prime Minister Levan Davitashvili noted in his speech, the project of Hunnewell Cement is very important not only from an economic point of view, but also in terms of environment protection.

"I would like to thank the investors for implementing such important projects, for their outstanding responsibility towards the country and its economy. The company has invested over half a billion GEL in various projects. Since 2006, Heidelberg Cement has developed and transformed into an important enterprise in the economy of Georgia. It has a very big role due to the fact that it is a strategic-industrial, historical object, which allows us to provide a sustainable supply to our construction sector, infrastructure projects," – the First Vice Prime Minister said.

According to the management of the enterprise, the technology of using waste tires as an alternative fuel has already been tested in various European countries and is successfully implemented in the cement factories of Heidelberg Cement and other companies. In addition, currently Kaspi Cement Plant uses coal and natural gas as fuel, and as a result of the project implementation, they will be replaced with waste tires, which will have a significant positive impact in terms of protecting the environment from harmful effects.

The budget of the new project of Honeywell Cement is 5,8 million GEL and numerous new jobs will be created. In addition, it should be noted that the company employs more than 1200 people across the country.

Levan Davitashvili talked about the significant share of the construction sector in the economy of Georgia as a whole. As he noted, the economic growth in the country has been characterized by stable positive dynamics in recent years, including the data of January-August, the growth was 10%. In addition, economic growth is significantly supported by infrastructure projects - over 7% of GDP is spent annually on such projects. According to the assessment of the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, these data and dynamics are largely the result of the correct decisions of the private sector and business.

"I am sure that this will also be an important enterprise in terms of employment in the region, and the company's plans are encouraging – they claim to become more sustainable in the future, including in terms of environmental protection. Hunnewell Cement is a very important company - as an enterprise and as a critical infrastructure, which is directly related to the development of many other fields" – Levan Davitashvili commented.