Only history can tell how much the former Soviet republics, including Georgia, suffered or recovered in the wake of the destructive collapse of USSR. The breakup was a disaster: the multifaceted infrastructure that 300 million people sweated for over 70 years was literally blown away overnight. In a flash, the collective ownership of production means was transformed into private property. The have-nots became the haves and vice versa. In a blink of an eye, 15 new independent countries were born, and the area that was once one-sixth the size of the entire world shrank to unrecognisable proportions. This was followed by a rash ethnic clashes, coloured with blood and involving multiple nationalities. After 30 years of a roaring transformation, the ex-soviet states have survived with more or lesser success.
Georgia, like other soviet republics in the system, was always dependent on subsidies from the state. This meant that Georgia contributed less to the budget of the entire union than it received, and it was accepted as a given. The only thing the soviet Georgian leaders had to do was maintain the large-scale, compulsory soviet order, based on universally accepted rules of political and economical behavior. This was not difficult as long as the local rulers did not lose their sense of obedience.
Georgia still needs external assistance to function, despite the fact that Russia has changed its brotherly and cooperative attitude towards Georgia to one of disruptive adversity. Since Russia has changed its cooperative and brotherly attitude towards Georgia to one of disruption, the West is expected to provide the needed assistance, whether it be from the United States, the European Union or other countries that feel like helping the Georgian people make ends meet. The efforts are in place to keep Georgia in the loop of moderate economic safety, and the survival of the nation doesn’t seem as important as it did immediately after the fallout from the Soviet Union.
Georgia is ranked seventh on the list 15 former Soviet nations with only $16,590 per capita. Not bad for a country that has seen so many wars, revolutions, and is currently in utterly crippling internal political turmoil.
The list of GDPs published recently by former soviet states leaves us, the Georgian citizens, with a lot of unfulfilled expectations. Georgia is ranked seventh on the list of 15 former Soviet nations with a GDP per capita of only $16,590. Lithuania is at the top of the list, with a GDP per capita of $42,091, almost three times greater than ours. Russia is 4th in the list with a per capita income of $30,431 Georgia’s position above the middle of the ranking isn’t bad, considering it has experienced so many wars and revolutions and is currently in a state of absolute political turmoil. Could we have done better? Yes, we could, if we had tried our possible economic best with sharper pecuniary acumen and higher productivity-oriented diligence in these more than 30 years of independence from the soviets, who did all they could to keep us squeezed in iron-rigid tentacles of communist ideology, but at the same time fed and clad us tolerably.
The Georgian government is still doing a good job managing the economy. They have managed to provide for an unexpected economic growth of over 10% and exports of $4,242,3 millions in 2021. And the SMEs are still hanging on. Now, the priority must be to keep up the great work!
Let us at the same time be fair enough to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s: in the harshest conditions of interminable ideological polarization, with vastly occupied territories at hand, with endless pandemic asperities, with a scary amount of foreign debt, with runaway inflation of more than 13%, and skyrocketing unemployment, with Russia’s ceaseless attempts at revenge, and the regrettable vacillations of the West to finally and completely embrace Georgia and let it sigh with relief, the current besieged-by-the-opposition Government of Georgia is still handling quite decently the national economy, having provided for the unexpected economic growth of something over 10%, export of $4,242,3 million in 2021, and the small and medium-sized businesses still hanging in there.
Now, the priority for the team is to continue the work that they have done with so much sweat and worry.
Blog by Nugzar Ruhadze
Read More @ georgiatoday.ge