Aspects of Post-Soviet Economy Against the Background of the Associate Agreement With the European Union
Aspects of Post-Soviet Economy Against the Background of the Associate Agreement With the European Union

Summary/Abstract: After the collapse of the Soviet Union, at the beginning of the 1990s, Georgia regained its independence and began the process of building a market economy. It went quite painfully and was compounded by internal and external conflicts. There were dismal failures and successes in the economy. In 2012, as a result of democratic elections, new forces came to power in the country. From then on, business was no longer subject to political pressure, confiscation of private property by the government and people close to it ended, the court was given the opportunity to make fair decisions, the medium-term program for socio-economic development was formulated, and more attention was paid to the development of economy’s real estate sector. The integration with the European Union has gained an irreversible nature: the growth rate of GDP hovered around 3% and the average annual inflation rate did not exceed 2-2.4%. Since 2008, the volume of foreign direct investment reached its highest level, export indicators significantly increased, the share of foreign trade in the EU increased, the employment rate increased 12.4% (from 16.3% in 2010), and the volume of state debt and the ratio to the GDP became stable. Particular attention was paid to the realization of social programs in the condition of small incomes and pension. Unfortunately, due to low incomes, a large part of the population is employed abroad, and the volume of their remittances is growing. According to the 2015 population census, there was a 17% reduction in population size. The integration into the European Union opens up new opportunities for the country, but only through hard work will it be possible to achieve the “economic convergence criteria.”

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