Results of the economic crisis in South Caucasus countries

The Armenian organization Caucasus Institute printed an analytical report where it assessed the situation in the South Caucasus during and after the global economic crisis.

According to the report, Armenia faced a big setback during the crisis as the major branch of its current economy construction business failed. Before the crisis 27% of the country’s economy was based on the construction business but during the crisis real estate property in Armenia was sold quickly and cheaply. This created an outflow of foreign currency from the country, the local currency rate fell and this influenced the country’s economy very negatively. In addition to this there was a decrease in exports from the country as well.

Georgia managed to come out of the crisis in much better condition. This was mainly because of the result of the huge economic assistance Georgia received after the Russian invasion of 2008. The country received almost USD 5 bln including 1 bln as a grant. This money protected the country from collapse

Azerbaijan also did not suffer much from the crisis, even though the oil prices went down as the country had enough reserves to maintain its economy and as soon as oil price went up, Azerbaijan retained its position.