Georgia: HeidelbergCaucasus and Georgian Building Group set up GCA

HeidelbergCement Caucasus (GCC) and the Georgian Building Group (GBG), owned by Kavkaz Cement, have decided to form the Georgian Cement Association to help safeguard the quality of domestically-produced cement and create a “Good Quality Seal”.

All domestically-produced products will be tested to ensure that the quality of cement in the bag corresponds to the quality of the product specified on the bag. Bags to be tested will be purchased anonymously in the open market quarterly and distributed to laboratories on a “blind” basis. Testing shall be conducted primarily by an independent and neutral laboratory, such as Georgian Technical University, and reconfirmed by parallel testing. Additionally, the overall process will be supervised by Chamber of Commerce and industry of Georgia, as an independent and neutral side.

Only GCA members in good standing will be able to use the good quality seal in their advertising and cement producers must have their products tested to acquire and maintain GCA membership.

“A final and very important aspect of the GCA is to help ensure the competitiveness and the economic viability of the building materials industry in Georgia, the benefits of which will be the creation and maintenance of jobs and the sector’s contribution to economic growth. This will reduce the need to import such products, as well as minimizing the migration of jobs, knowledge and experience from our country,” said the GCA.