Foreign direct investment reduced by 42 percent in Georgia

Foreign investments in the first quarter of 2020 in Georgia amounted to $165,400,000, which is almost 42 percent less than in the same quarter last year.

The Georgian authorities say that the main reason for the reduction in investments was the pandemic and the fact that the main gas pipeline was completed. Investors are unconvinced, since the volume of foreign investment began to decline last year, that is, before the pandemic broke out.

Nevertheless, Minister of Finance Ivane Machavariani is sticking to the coronavirus story. He says that allegations that the situation was deteriorating for other reasons do not correspond to reality.

• Almost 30,000 Georgian children do not have access to soap and are unable to wash at home, says UNICEF report
• Masks, barriers, high prices: post-corona tourism in Georgia

Opposition believes that the decline in investment was caused by foreign investors’ distrust in the Georgian justice system and the unstable political situation. This, in particular, was stated by the representative of the National Movement Roman Gotsiridze, clarifying that what was happening was the result of Bidzina Ivanishvili usurping all branches of government.