Professor Giorgi Tsutskiridze, an expert on economics, summed up the impact of the war between the two neighbors of Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia, on the Georgian economy at a special briefing today.
Giorgi Tsutskiridze stated that the first consequences of the war are already visible. First of all, the increased political risks arisen from this conflict should be named. According to Tsutskiridze, political risks are the most dangerous risks in the region and will stop the region's economy for years and pull it back.
"Financial risks have a major impact on the economy, no less than the impact of hostilities. In general, Azerbaijan and Armenia are our leading partner countries in terms of both exports and imports. If this war continues, it will have serious impact on the Azerbaijani and Armenian economy. We must hope that the conflict will not last, because the international community, the Minsk Group, is actively considering bringing the conflict to a relatively peaceful phase," said the expert, praising Prime Minister Gakharia's initiative offering the two sides to come together in Tbilisi and go back to negotiating. According to Tsutskiridze, this is a good signal for investors.
"If certain agreements get reached in Tbilisi, it will only positively benefit our economy, and the prestige of the country," Tsutskiridze said.
According to him, part of the bad scenario is the flow of refugees, which will directly affect our country's economy.
"If large-scale clashes start, we will have to receive and accommodate these people, which will be directly related to the costs. So we should not think that when the economies of our partner countries have a problem, it will not affect us. We must also prepare for this type of scenario," Tsutskiridze said, hoping that the conflict would soon escalate.
"I think the assessments that there will be Lebanonization and Syrianization are a bit frivolous. The spread of such information is part of a hybrid war. Different countries, including Russia, do it. The conflict will stop the development of the region for years," Tsutskiridze said.
