The "Transparency International Georgia" published a study. According to the report, in 2022 the share of income received from remittances, tourism and exports from Russia in the Georgian economy amounted to 14.6%, while in 2021 this figure did not exceed 6.3%, and it reached a record 9.9% in 2018.
Expert Gia Khukhuashvili summarizes the results of the research in TV-program "Analytics" and notes that the dependence of Georgia's economy on Russia is increasing. As he notes, the only solution is to gain energy independence from Russia, like Europe, which has already successfully managed it.
"Russia has a 20-year energy development program, which clearly reads that energy dependence of other countries on Russia, is a political issue. When they started the war in Ukraine, they thought that Europe was so dependent on them for energy that they would not dare to do anything. But they did not succeed, Europe did everything to distance itself from Russia in the energy market, while Georgia went in the opposite direction.
Our economic dependence on Russia almost equals the occupation. In this great global war, one of the main levers is European economic sanctions, the West is trying to isolate Russia as much as possible, and at the same time we are helping Russia. We are on the side of Russia in this global war, even though we claim, that Georgia supports the West. The degree of our integration into the single Russian economic space is increasing every day. We are losing our energy independence day by day," says Gia Khukhashvili.
