The Georgian Parliament explained why they plan to introduce tariffs for gas and water according to the volume of consumption. The head of the economic committee, Shota Barkashvili, said: "We must have a mechanism that will give each of us an incentive to save energy. We live in a new economic model where energy efficiency is a priority." According to him, the main emphasis will be on the social component: for low-income citizens, prices will remain low, but will rise for those who consume more. Barkashvili also noted that the current gas tariff for individuals in Georgia is about 55 tera ($0.21) per cubic meter - 7.5-8 times lower than the EU average.