45,349 Russian citizens open bank account in Georgia after Russia-Ukraine war – IDFI

The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information on Thursday said that 45,349 Russian citizens opened bank accounts in Georgia since the beginning of Russia’s war in Ukraine in February. 

The study by the domestic organization covers the period between February 24 and August 31.

IDFI stressed that after the start of the war, the amount of balance on deposits of Russian citizens increased by 1.2 billion GEL (170%).

“Russian citizens have 1.88 billion GEL deposits in Georgian banks. The number of Russian citizens with active accounts in commercial banks exceeds 60,000. 19 legal entities registered in Russia have opened their own accounts in commercial banks of Georgia”, IDFI said. 

It stated that In the March-August period, loans of 482.8 million GEL were issued to Russian citizens, which was about 6% lower than the figure of the same period of the previous year.

While analyzing the data of Russian citizens crossing the Georgian border, IDFI suggested that the visit of more than 42,000 Russian citizens who had entered the country in the March-June period was less related to tourism purposes, since they did not leave the country even after a month (as of July 30)”, said the organization. 

Russia started large-scale hostilities in Ukraine on February 24. Since then, not only military facilities, but also homes, kindergartens and hospitals have been bombed.

Due to the invasion of Ukraine, the European Union, the US and other countries had imposed sanctions on Russia. Part of the sanctions also affected the banking sector. Due to the imposition of sanctions, thousands of  Russian citizens had moved to other countries, including Georgia.