According to the data from the National Bank of Georgia, the volume of funds transferred to Georgia increased by 127.1% in March 2023 compared to the corresponding period of last year and amounted to 438.4 million US dollars. The bulk of the increase came from Russia, 224 million USD, which is 8.3 times more than in the same month of the previous year.
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The main sources of transfers were Russia (51.0%), EU countries (24.6%), and the US (8.2%).
Georgia hosted 1.1 million visitors from Russia in 2022. Last year, Russian citizens opened more than 60,000 accounts in Georgian banks, and the amount of money placed in their current accounts and deposits increased almost 4 times compared to 2021 and reached 2.8 billion GEL. Some of the Russian visitors are actually immigrants and settled in Georgia for the long term. This is indicated by the registration of companies and the opening of 10,000 accounts in Georgian banks by Russian citizens and the volume of deposits placed. In 2022, up to 15,000 Russian companies were registered in Georgia, which is 16 times more than the figure of 2021.
There are up to 22 400 Russian companies based in Georgia and 66% of them were registered after the start of the war in Ukraine.
In 2022, Georgia received USD 3.6 billion in revenue from goods export, tourism, and transfers from Russia, which is 3 times more than income from the same sources in 2021, and double that of 2019, before the Covid pandemic.
In 2022, the income from remittances, tourism, and export of goods from Russia made up 14.6% of the Georgian economy (GDP), while in 2021 this figure was at 6.3%, and peaked at 9.9% in 2018.
In 2022, Georgian exports to Russia increased by 6.8% and amounted to 652 million USD. After the outbreak of war, in March-December, exports increased by 3.2%, which was mainly due to a 5-fold increase in the re-export of light vehicles.
After the start of the war, the import of oil products (fuel) from Russia increased the most - by 482 million US dollars (5 times more). The share of Russian fuel in imports was 51%. Import of food products increased by 45% and amounted to 442 million dollars; Import of carbon steel increased 8 times and amounted to 49 million dollars. Import of coal and coke increased by 157% and totaled 70 million US dollars;
Despite the 46% increase in electricity imports from Russia, Russian electricity accounts for only 2.6% of Georgia's domestic consumption.
In 2022, wine exports to Russia increased by 23% and amounted to 161 million USD. The Russian market amounts to 64% of Georgian wine exports, which is the highest figure since the return of Georgian wine to the Russian market in 2013.
Georgia's reliance on Russian wheat and flour remains high. In 2022, the share of Russian wheat and wheat flour in the total import of wheat and wheat flour of Georgia was 97%. 78% of wheat flour consumed in Georgia comes from Russia.
