The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) recently acquired 7 tons of high-quality monetary gold valued at $500 million, constituting approximately 11% of its total reserves. This marked the first occasion that Georgia acquired gold for its reserves since it regained independence.

This policy brief addresses risks tied to Russian business ownership in Georgia. The concentration of this ownership in critical sectors such as electricity and communications makes Georgia vulnerable to risks of political influence, corruption, economic manipulation, espionage, sabotage, and sanctions evasion. To minimize these risks, it is recommended to establish a Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) screening mechanism for Russia-originating investments, acknowledge the risks in national security documents, and implement a critical infrastructure reform.

Both Russia and Ukraine are among the top five export destinations for Georgia. Ukraine accounted for 9.5 per cent of Georgia's exports in January 2022, while Russia accounted for 12.9 per cent (prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022).

On February 24th, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. This event not only marked the collapse of a painstakingly built global security architecture and destroyed the lives and livelihoods of millions of civilians in the heart of Europe, it also put the world on the brink of the largest nuclear, humanitarian, and ecological catastrophe since WWII.

On March 3, 2022, ISET Policy Institute Lead Economist Yaroslava Babych and Director Tamar Sulukhia spoke at the international Webinar “The Sanctions on Russia, and their impact on the region”. The Webinar was organized by the Stockholm Institute of Transitional Economies and the Free Network (which is sponsored by Sida) and discussed the impacts of Russia’s war in Ukraine on the region, with a focus on the economic effects of sanctions in Russia and the region.