Russia among Georgia’s top 3 trade partners in January-May 2019

By Gvantsa Gabekhadze

Thursday, June 20

Russia is among the top three trading partners of Georgia based on the data of four months of 2019.

The external trade turnover of Georgia with the EU countries amounted to USD 1 246.7 million.

Russia, which occupies 20 percent of the Georgian territory, is among the country’s top three trading partners in the preliminary report of January-May 2019 released by Georgia’s National Statistics Office (Geostat) on Wednesday.

The report reads that in January-May 2019 the external merchandise trade (excluding non-declared trade) of Georgia amounted to USD 4.9 billion, which was 1.1 percent higher compared to the same period of the last year.

In the four months, the share of the top ten trading partners by exports in the total exports of Georgia amounted to 72.9 percent.

“The top partners were Russia (USD 218.7 million), Azerbaijan (USD 168.8 million) and Bulgaria (USD 119.1 million),” Geostat says.

The office reports that in the same period the share of the top ten trading partners by imports in the total imports of Georgia amounted to 66.2 percent.

“The top partners were Turkey (USD 595.7 million), Russia (USD 349.6 million) and China (USD 347.9 million),” reads the report.

Geostat says that in January-May 2019 the exports equaled USD 1 466.7 million (14.2 percent higher), while the imports stood at USD 3 492.8 million (3.6 percent lower).

The exports from Georgia to the EU countries amounted to USD 360.9 million (22.1 percent higher compared to January-May 2018) and constituted 24.6 percent of total exports, while the imports amounted to USD 885.8 million (11.5 percent lower) with 25.4 percent in total imports.

“The external trade turnover of Georgia with the EU countries amounted to USD 1 246.7 million, showing a 3.9 percent decrease compared to the corresponding indicator of the previous year. The EU countries accounted for 25.9 percent of the trade deficit,” Geostat says.

In January-May 2019 the exports to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries stood at USD 748.7 million (28.3 percent higher compared to January-May 2018) and reached 51.1 percent of total exports, while the imports equaled USD 951.3 million (13.2 percent lower) with 27.2 percent in total import.

Since the Russia-Georgia 2008 war, Georgia has no diplomat relations with Russia. However, through the initiative of the Georgian Dream government, the countries restored trade-economic ties in 2012, shortly after the Georgian Dream coalition defeated the nine-year-rule of the United National Movement.