Georgia’s Foreign Trade Turnover with CIS Countries Decreases

The National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat) has published data according to which Georgia's foreign trade turnover with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries in January-March 2016 decreased by 15% compared with the same period last year, amounting to USD 574 million. However, despite Georgia's withdrawal from the CIS, the country’s foreign trade turnover with members of CIS is 27 percent of the total volume of foreign trade.

Exports to CIS countries amounted to USD 129 million (26 percent less) and imports USD 445 million (11 percent less). The share of CIS countries accounted for 27 percent of the total foreign trade turnover of Georgia; however, in January-March 2015 it stood at 29 percent with the share of CIS countries accounting for 25 percent of Georgia’s negative trade balance. One year ago the figure was the same.

Georgia's foreign trade turnover in January-March amounted to approximately USD 2.14 billion (excluding non-organized trade), which is 7 percent less than the same period last year.

Georgia officially interrupted relations with the CIS but today it is a participant of the CIS multilateral economic agreements in the areas of trade, transport and intellectual property protection. The formal procedure of Georgia’s withdrawal from CIS ended on August 18, 2009.

Eka Karsaulidze