Russian business fills the budget of anti-Russian Georgia
Despite the anti-Russian protests that have swept Georgia, Russian business continues to operate in the country.
Vladimir Novikov, a senior researcher at the Institute for Socio-Political Studies of the Black Sea Region, stated this in a commentary to Moskovsky Komsomolets.
According to him, Russian business was widely represented in Georgia even during the reign of Saakashvili, when relations between Moscow and Tbilisi were completely at zero.
“Since then, there have been even more Russian enterprises in the republic. Moreover, they are significant not only in Georgia, but also in Russia. For example, the famous Georgian mineral water will definitely not be subject to sanctions, since one of the largest Russian banks is involved in its sale. In this regard, it is time to talk not about the safety of Russian businessmen, but about their ineffectiveness from the point of view of Russian “soft power”. The Russians in Georgia are not contributing to the improvement of bilateral relations, although they could well do so even within the framework that was established after the 2008 war,” the expert said.
The political scientist noticed that in the center of Batumi there is a Russian state bank, most likely meaning VTB.
“He gives work to many representatives of Georgian youth who have been rallying against “Russian aggression” for the last few days. At the same time, the bank did not become a factor in the normalization of Russian-Georgian relations. This can be explained either by a lack of coordination between Russian business and government, or the interests of entrepreneurs are not perceived by Moscow in the context of national interests. If there is appropriate political will, it would be possible to supplement the economic influence of Russians in Georgia and prevent anti-Russian protests,” Novikov believes.
He also believes that even if Saakashvili’s supporters come to power, Russian entrepreneurs will not be expelled from the country, since they “bring money to the Georgian budget and do not meddle in politics.”
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