Page 30 - Caucasus Outlook 2024

Georgian Railway recorded profits for the second consecutive year in FY 2022 and 1H 2023, driven by increased revenues and improved financial costs from GEL fluctuations.
In 9M 2023, Georgia witnessed remarkable growth in external automotive trade, marked by a 100% surge in vehicle imports and a 163% increase in re-exports.
The US maintained its position as a major import partner, while Central Asian countries dominated re-export markets due to land border closures with Azerbaijan.
The import of trucks, heavy vehicles, motorcycles, and scooters notably rose, showing a 46% YoY increase. Spare parts imports grew by 30%, but tyre imports saw a modest 1% YoY increase.
Oil production in Georgia remains low, but has reached its highest level since 2015, with 39,100 tonnes extracted last year compared to 35,300 tonnes in 2021. The current year shows a significant increase, with oil production up almost 200%, and gas production up 140%. Block Energy, a British oil company, attributes this growth to intensive exploration using modern technologies, including lateral and horizontal barrel drilling. The company anticipates returning to 40,000 tonnes of oil and 15-18 million cubic metres of gas by the end of the year.
In the first eight months of 2023, the country imported oil products worth $546 million, marking a nearly 20% decrease from the corresponding period in 2022. Natural gas imports, totaling $293 million, experienced a 14.5% annual increase. Gas imports from Russia surged by 150%, exceeding $84.1 million, while imports from Azerbaijan declined by 6%
3.2 Real economy - Armenia
3.2.1 Retail
Armenia's retail trade amounted to over 1.4 trillion drams in January-October 2023, an increase of 8.2% compared to the same period in 2022. Sales of vehicles raised over 208.8 billion drams, showing a 51% year-on-year growth.
Stores accounted for 82.1% of the retail trade, or over 1.1 trillion drams, showing an 11.1% year-on-year growth. The consumer goods market accounted for 3.8% of the total, or over 53.1 billion drams, having grown by 0.1%.
In September 2023, the reported retail trade turnover in Armenia was AMD163bn, which is an increase from the previous month's figure of AMD158bn. The data for Armenia's retail trade turnover is updated monthly and has been averaging AMD96bn from January 2000 to September 2023. The highest recorded value was AMD244bn in December 2013, while the lowest was AMD23bn in March 2000.
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