Decreased Export and Increased Import — Foreign Trade with Russia
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Wednesday, April 20, 2022
The National Statistics Center of Georgia (Geostat) released a report on foreign trade in March, which shows that Georgia has increased its import ties with Russia since Russia started the war in Ukraine. In March, the country bought $ 91.6 million worth of Russian goods, up $2.2 million (2.5%) from the same period last year.
The leading positions in Russian imports are held by energy carriers - oil, natural gas and electricity. The increase in imports was mainly due to the rise in energy prices.
Oil and oil products - $ 21.9 million, an increase of 89% over the previous year; Petroleum gasses and gaseous hydrocarbons - $ 15.3 million, a decrease of 27% over the previous year; Electricity - $7.8 million, an increase of 227% over the previous year; Coal coke and semi-coke - $5.8 million, an increase of 184% over the previous year; Margarine - $3.4 million, an increase of 78% over the previous year.
Unlike imports, exports to Russia are reduced. In March, Georgia exported $ 16.9 million worth of goods to Russia, which is 56% less than the previous year.
If in March 2021 Russia exported 9.5 million wines, this year exports amounted to 5.4 million. In addition, 9.8 million ferroalloys were exported to Russia in March last year, while in March this year, manganese products were not exported to Russia at all.
Natural grape wine - $5.4 million, a decrease of 44% over the previous year; Mineral and fresh water - $4.9 million, a decrease of 15%; Cigarettes - $0.9 million, an increase of 14 %; Alcoholic beverages - $ 0.8 million, a decrease of 69%; Carbonated drinks with sugar - $ 0.7 million, a decrease of 57% over the previous year.
As expected, a significant drop of 93% was observed in Georgia's exports to Ukraine. If in 2021 Georgia's exports to Ukraine were $24.6 million, this year it amounted to $1.8 million. Of that, $ 1.3 million was not direct exports but humanitarian aid.
