Page 13 - GEORptOct22

depolarisation of the domestic political environment, 'deoligarchisation', judiciary reforms and other issues, require the opposition's involvement.
Michael Rupp, from the European Commission, on July 13 said that the European Commission would present a report on the priorities in the enlargement package in 2023 to give the Georgian political system "sufficient time" to "thoroughly work" on the priorities for membership candidate status.
He said EU officials did not want to "rush" Georgia, given the political quarrels in the country. Protesters have been demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili for months.
2.7 Polls & Sociology
62% of Georgian companies negatively affected by war in Ukraine
23% of Georgia’s population has emigrated
The majority of companies in Georgia have felt the negative effects of Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to a new survey conducted by the Business Association of Georgia.
In the survey conducted in 2Q22, 62% of surveyed companies indicated that the war in Ukraine and/or Western sanctions against Russia have had a negative impact on their business activity, while only 3% stated that the impact had been positive. Of the companies surveyed, 22% indicated that neither the war nor sanctions affected their business.
As mentioned in the survey’s report, most impacted by the war and sanctions are companies that conduct trade. Problems facing these companies include increased prices on intermediate goods, logistical issues on the global market, hindered import-export with Ukraine, and aggravated trade relations with Russia.
Among companies that do trade with Russia, most respondents indicated that payment issues and hindered logistics, including freight insurance issues, were underlying problems. Far fewer respondents (19%) noted that trade partners being on sanctions lists were a problem.
Despite complications in doing business, overall 59% of the companies surveyed do not expect the war or sanctions to negatively impact their revenues. 25% of the surveyed companies expect a decrease in revenues, while only 2% expect a significant decrease. Surveyed companies expressed similar sentiments when it comes to planned investments, with 70% of respondents indicating that they do not believe the war or sanctions will have a negative impact.
None of the surveyed companies believe that it will take more than five years for their business to fully recover to the pre-war situation.
Georgia's PMC Research Centre published a new study titled "Emigration and the impact of remittances on the economy of Georgia" on September 13, which revealed that the number of Georgian emigrants increased by 7% in the period 2010-2020, which means that 23% of the Georgian population has emigrated at some time over the period.
According to the study, most of the labour emigrants from Georgia live and work illegally in their host countries. The document states that the main motivation of emigrants who left Georgia is to send money to their families in Georgia to ensure their living conditions.
According to the study, the peak of emigration fell in 2019 during the reporting period, which may be due to the visa-free regime introduction between the EU and Georgia.
Russia remains the main host country for Georgian emigrants with 0.45mn,
13 GEORGIA Country Report October 2022 www.intellinews.com