The aim of the report is to summarize the main findings from the interviews conducted by AYPEG and provide suggestions and recommendations for the research and training needs in the Georgian energy sector. The report also includes individual interview summaries (40 in total) as an appendix that enables to the identification of each organization's opinion on the research and training needs.

The aim of the project was to assess the main research objectives and training needs in the Georgian energy sector. The energy sector appears one of the most promising sectors in Georgia and especially hydropower which is one of the main resources of the country. On the other hand, more than 80% of the energy resource remains unutilized. Consequently, now when Georgia is paving its own way of economic development, it is crucial to determine main research questions and access training needs. This will help to allocate intellectual/financial resources where it is mostly required and help the sector to exploit the country’s energy potential.

The main approach to assess demand on specific research topics and training needs was to interview all relevant stakeholders in the energy sector. Organizations were asked to clarify what is the main challenge and problematic areas for them that need additional research and what kind of training was required for their staff; Moreover, organizations were also asked similar questions for the whole energy sector perspective.

At the first stage, the main stakeholders in the Georgian energy sector were defined. Afterward, AYPEG’s staff allocated all the stakeholders and interviewed them. During the interviews the number of stakeholders has changed because of two reasons: firstly, some organizations/companies appeared to be subsidiary/holding companies and they spoke as one company. Secondly, during interviews more, organizations were identified through interviewed companies that were relevant stakeholders in the energy sector as well.

In total, AYPEG members have contacted 56 organizations. The name of those organizations, contact persons and response types are provided in appendix B. Out of 56 organizations, 40 were interviewed and corresponding individual interview reports are attached on appendix C. 6 organizations requested to provide a survey questionnaire via e-mail or phone call but did not respond to AYPEG so far. Finally, AYPEG could not contact 10 organizations or these organizations refused to participate in the survey. Figure 1 below illustrates the percentage distribution of the organizations depending on their responses.