The number of Russian companies in Georgia reaches a historical maximum. This is stated in the study of the "Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information".

Based on the information of the National Statistics Service, IDFI writes that as of June 1, 2024, about 37,400 companies in Georgia are owned by Russian citizens (including 494 Georgian-Russian dual citizens), of which more than 30,000 companies are registered after 2022.

20,885 of the registered companies have an active status. The total number of companies with active status in Georgia is 257,245, it turns out that 8.1% of them are related to Russia.

"The increase in the number of companies founded by Russian citizens began after the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war and the arrival of Russian migrants in Georgia. Large Russian companies enter the Georgian economy in many cases through offshore or intermediary companies, which makes it difficult to determine who exactly is behind this or that company. In addition, there are cases when companies owned by persons with dual Georgian-Russian citizenship, or only Russian citizenship, are not registered in the official data of the Statistics Service, which also causes inaccuracy regarding the number of Russian companies operating in Georgia and what is their field of activity. In addition, it is impossible to trace both the legal and actual addresses of thousands of Russian LLCs and industrial enterprises, because during registration they use the same legal addresses, on which the building or structure is not located at all, or the area is only a few square meters.

Large Russian companies are found in almost all sectors of the economy, including energy, telecommunications, industry, gaming, etc.

According to the information provided by the National Statistics Service, as of June 1, 2024, about 37,400 companies are owned by Russian citizens in Georgia (including 494 Georgian-Russian dual citizens), of which more than 30,000 companies are registered after 2022. 20,885 of the registered companies have an active status. The total number of companies with active status in Georgia is 257,245, it turns out that 8.1% of them are related to Russia.

The database of companies registered by Russian citizens also partially covers companies founded by persons with dual citizenship of Georgia/Russia. In particular, a total of 494 of these companies are founded by persons with dual Georgian-Russian citizenship, and 100 of the companies with an active status," the information reads.

However, IDFI notes that information on companies established with the participation of dual citizens is not fully represented in the database. For example, among the large companies is the company of Vakhtang Karichashvili with dual citizenship of Georgia and Russia, sanctioned by the government of Ukraine, K and Georgian Spirit LLC. However, according to the data of the business register, he owns a number of other companies that are not reflected in the database. For example, he is the founder of Bolero & Company, one of the largest groups producing alcoholic beverages in Georgia, as well as the owner of 100% of GVMT Group LLC and 50% of Alliance and Company LLC.

"In the case of 34,857 companies founded by Russian citizens, there is no connection with Georgian citizens (the owner is not a dual citizen or the co-founder is a Georgian citizen). Within the framework of the research, it was additionally verified how large the share of ethnic Georgians is among Russian citizens who are the founders of the mentioned companies. According to IDFI's assessment, only 4% of these companies (1,209 companies) have the surname of a Russian citizen of Georgian origin.

According to the research, 89% of the registered active status companies are small in size, the number of medium and large companies is only 0.5% in total, and in the case of 10.6%, the economic size is still unknown. 93% of companies are founded by individual entrepreneurs.

In addition, iDFI notes that Russian citizens most often choose Tbilisi to register companies - almost half of legal companies and individual entrepreneurs with an active status are registered in Tbilisi.

According to iDFI, the transparency of companies based in Georgia by Russian citizens is strategically important for Georgia, especially in light of the fact that Russia is a country sanctioned by the international community.

"Many factors complicate the traceability of companies related to Russia in Georgia - hundreds of LLCs and ind. companies registered at the same legal address. Entrepreneur, lack of actual address, companies and intermediary companies of Russian citizens not reflected in official statistics. In addition, it is impossible to say how many companies operate in Georgia with the participation of Russian capital, based on official statistics.

These companies are actively involved in economic activities - they participate in the state privatization process, state tenders and simplified purchases - for which they receive tens of millions of GEL from the state budget. Only the companies tracked within the mentioned research and their affiliated companies, through tenders and simplified purchases, have received more than 90 million GEL from the state budget.

In recent years, the increased foreign trade with Russia and the influx of Russian companies lead to an increase in the dependence of the country's economy on Russia, which is a significant risk for Georgia. Traditionally, Russia uses economic dependence as a political weapon. This is evidenced by the history of economic ties with Russia and the imposed embargoes," the information says.