Hunnewell Partners owner Irakli Rukhadze says Georgia does not receive real foreign capital, arguing that most reported investment is actually local money structured through foreign jurisdictions. Speaking on the “Katsman’s Podcast,” he said official FDI statistics are misleading and do not reflect genuine foreign investors.
He specifically questioned the UK’s position as Georgia’s top investor, saying: “UK appears as the largest investor, but I have never seen an English investor in Georgia.” According to him, this figure mainly reflects profits from Bank of Georgia and TBC Bank, which are listed in London and whose retained earnings are recorded as UK investment.
He made similar claims about the Netherlands and Malta, saying Dutch-registered companies such as Heidelberg Cement and Liberty Bank are not necessarily backed by Dutch investors. According to him, these jurisdictions are mainly used due to favorable tax and investment protection agreements, while the actual capital remains Georgian.
Rukhadze concluded that with around 86% of FDI being reinvestment, Georgia is essentially “circulating its own money,” which limits the country to small-scale projects and prevents major investments in infrastructure such as hydropower plants, ports, and industrial sectors.
