Independent consultant Kakha Samkurashvili declares that migrants who arrived in Georgia due to the Russia-Ukraine war and started business activities here are less sensitive to the country's internal political crisis. The expert links this factor to the 11% economic growth recorded in January against the backdrop of deteriorating business sentiment in the country.
According to Samkurashvili, 60-65 thousand Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian migrants still live in Georgia.
"Naturally, they are less sensitive [to the domestic political crisis]; of course, they are also affected when there is protest rallies in the center of Tbilisi and moving around on the street is dangerous, but they are still less vulnerable to the political crisis and are much less likely to reduce spending, both in retail trade and services, or other large purchases, etc. In general, I think that the topic of migrants and the economic growth forecast are quite intertwined. If we talk about the economic forecast for 2025, there are two factors - the first one is the domestic political crisis, which we have now, while the second one is the end of the Russian-Ukrainian war, which likelihood has recently emerged. It may not happen in a few weeks, but today is the highest chance that the Russian-Ukrainian war will end", - Samkurashvili said.
