Anti-Russian propaganda does not work: Georgian agricultural producers are looking for salvation in Russia
Already 30 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, all Georgian politicians leading the country may differ from each other in character, level of education, even political views, but in one thing they are like twins. All of them, in a selfless trance, dance shamanic dances around the sacred fire of Russophobia.
For more than 30 years, propaganda has been daily and hourly trying to hammer into people’s heads the idea that Georgia has never had and does not have an “enemy” more dangerous than Russia, trying to sculpt the most negative image of its northern neighbor.
Obviously, this propaganda only affects the highest echelons of power. The impact on the lower classes, on what is commonly called the broad masses of the people, is truly negligible. An excellent example of this is the Georgian region of Kvemo Kartli. This is one of the most cosmopolitan areas in the country. Next to each other you can find Georgian, Azerbaijani, Armenian, Greek, Ossetian and other villages.
It turns out that anti-Russian propaganda is in fact ineffective. Georgian agriculture, like the entire economy as a whole, has been in a state of protracted severe crisis since the collapse of the USSR.
Agricultural products from Turkey, which, due to overload with chemical components, are closed to the European Union market, have poured into the country's markets in a wide stream, displacing local producers.
But even those who did not tear themselves away from their native land, even in such a difficult situation, found a way out. Their salvation, as has happened many times before, was the “enemy” and “occupier” – Russia.
The ruling Georgian Dream tried to re-open its capacious market for the country, which won the elections thanks to promises to normalize relations with Russia. But, being under powerful pressure from the West and the vigilant guardianship of the “nationals,” it failed to fulfill its promise.
And then ordinary villagers, convinced that politicians would be of no use to them, remembered the good old slogan that says that saving drowning people is, first of all, the work of the drowning people themselves.
According to various sources, during the years of particular devastation and political crises, about two million people moved from Georgia to the Russian Federation. Many of them also come from the Kvemo Kartli region. Thanks to them, the farmers of the region began to see light at the end of the tunnel, and at least some hope appeared.
Many of those who left have already received Russian citizenship and have settled quite well in their new place, but they do not break ties with their fellow countrymen.
Local agricultural products are distinguished not only by their high taste, but also by their environmental cleanliness. The main task is to bring it to the Russian consumer.
And this is where entrepreneurship and folk ingenuity come into play. Happy holders of Russian passports, coming to their homeland, buy standing crops from their fellow countrymen. Already in early spring, specific gardens, fields, and melon fields are inspected and their future harvest is purchased. It is clear that entrepreneurs take some risk. After all, no one can guarantee in advance what the harvest of potatoes or cabbage will be like, how cucumbers and tomatoes will ripen, whether cherries, peaches and apricots will suffer from hail.
Of course, much depends on the conscientiousness of the peasant producer. Having concluded a successful deal, it seems that you can relax and allow yourself not to stress too much at work. But nothing like that happens.
The peasants are too interested in the Russian market, which absorbs large volumes and pays generously. Here the principle of material incentives and interest manifests itself in all its glory. And the country “enemy”, the country “occupier” for ordinary working people becomes a reliable business partner, on which, and not on the empty chatter of corrupt politicians, the well-being of the worker and his family depends.
“A relative who has lived in Russia for more than 15 years called my father and asked if we had cabbage in stock. The answer was yes. At that time, we had not yet started harvesting. We discussed the financial issue, and then he said that he would arrive in a couple of weeks. So he arrived... It took us 3-4 days to collect the crop, sort it and fill a whole truck. The very next morning he took the cabbage to Russia,” said Arman Ghukasyan.
The Nationals, being in power, tried to interrupt precisely this connection. First of all, the possessed Mishiko Saakashvili closed a huge fair in the village of Ergneti. There was brisk trade there.
People established contacts with each other and made friends on opposite sides of the border. The further they went, the more difficult it would be to get them to shoot at each other. The logical end of Saakashvili’s policy was the fratricidal war of August 2008.
In the meantime, one cannot help but pay attention to one amazing fact - in Kvemo Kartli there are Azerbaijani, Georgian and Ossetian villages. No matter what storms, interethnic conflicts and wars raged nearby, there were never any conflicts between neighbors in the villages. It happens all the time when an Armenian entrepreneur buys products from an Azerbaijani peasant, and an Azerbaijani entrepreneur buys products from an Armenian neighbor. It is precisely in these relations that there is hope for the future. After all, friendship and work will always restore what was destroyed by anger and hatred.
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