Page 24 - GEORptJun18

5.1.4 Gross international reserves
Gross international reserves in Georgia amounted to GEL2,480.1mn in March, down from GEL2,878.2 in January 2018. International reserves averaged GEL1,211.2mn from 2006 to 2018, reaching an all-time high of GEL 3,219mn in October 2017.
5.2 FTA
Georgia, Russia reportedly to create new trade corridors
Georgia on charm offensive in UAE in pursuit of FTA with
Georgia and Russia are working on an agreement to create three trade corridors to facilitate trade between the two countries, Georgia Today has reported.
Russia remains one of Georgia’s major trading partners despite the brief war between the two countries over the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia that took place in 2008. Russia gives economic and military support to both South Ossetia and another separatist Georgian region, Abkhazia.
The issue of trade was discussed at a meeting between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin and the Georgian prime minister’s special representative to Russia, Zurab Abashidze, in Prague on May 24, according to a statement from the Russian foreign ministry.
The two officials discussed implementation of the 2011 agreement between their governments on customs administration and monitoring of trade in goods, the statement said.
Karasin reportedly said after the meeting that an agreement to create three trade corridors, including via Abkhazia and South Ossetia, will move ahead. The Russian foreign ministry statement reported positive developments in economic cooperation between the two states in the first quarter of 2018, with mutual trade turnover rising to $337mn.
Georgia is seeking to establish a free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the six-country economic bloc encompassing Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and
24 GEORGIA Country Report June 2018 www.intellinews.com