A new study published on September 7 by the Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) says that a growing number of Russian and Belarusian citizens who entered Georgia since March have stayed in the country. According to the organization, the method of collecting statistical data makes it difficult to find out the motives of each arrival and taking into account the threats arising from the coronavirus pandemic, the fieldwork of the statistical survey of foreign visitors in 2020-2021 was suspended. IDFI thinks that the growing number of Russian and Belarusian citizens staying in Georgia is a "challenge from the point of view of state security" that needs to be dealt with by taking the right steps to reduce risks.
Part of civil society demands the establishment of a visa regime for Russian citizens. According to the data provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 277,698 citizens of Russia, 74,385 citizens of Ukraine, and 54,147 citizens of Belarus entered Georgia in March-June 2022. In the same period, 49,505 more citizens of Russia entered Georgia (18%) than left the country, 74,385 more citizens of Ukraine (20%), and 15,237 more citizens of Belarus (28%). This is quite a significant increase, especially in the case of citizens of Belarus. It is noteworthy that all of those visitors have the right to stay in Georgia for a year.
Based on the Sakstat survey, the IDFI reports that the average number of nights spent by Russian citizens during their visits has almost doubled in the first six months of 2022 compared to the same period in 2019. This follows ISFED’s earlier reports on Russians/Belarusians in Georgia. As of early July, Georgian citizenship was granted to 723 citizens of Russia; among them, 551 received Georgian citizenship in an exceptional manner, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In 2019-2022, among the people receiving Georgian citizenship, Russian citizens significantly predominated.
The "Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information" disseminates the abovementioned information based on data provided by the presidential administration.
