ANALYSIS OF TERRITORY ENERGY SECURITY IN THE CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (CASE OF GEORGIA)

The topicality of energy security (EnS) issues is confirmed by the unstable energy situation in the macroeconomic space. Countries with low energy potential risk losing autonomy. The development of methods for conducting EnS analysis will become an effective tool for reducing such negative threats. The goal of this research is to build a toolkit for the analysis of EnS for territories. To do this, it is proposed to consider the Energy Trilemma Index (ETI), to work out a methodology for assessing the level of EnS and to build a regression model of dependence of the obtained values on the selected economic parameters. The scientific novelty of the proposed toolkit lies in development of a methodology that allows the comparison of the EnS level of different territories and the identification of “influence-factors”. The developed tools were tested on the case of Georgia, for which EnS issues are a national priority. As a result of the test, the trend of reduction in Georgia’s level of EnS (from 0.772 in 2008 to 0.705 in 2018) was revealed, and Georgia’s dependence on the state of import-exports was substantiated. The findings show the viability of the model and the possibility of adapting it to other territories. The importance of the problem of maintaining EnS is growing today due to the need to ensure the sustainable development of territories at different levels. In this context, the expansion of scientific and applied knowledge in this area is aligning with the interests of regional economies and the world community.