Crisis in Greece affects budgets of 150,000 Georgian families

Because of the financial crisis in Greece, money transfers to Georgia have dropped by 15-16 million US dollars. Many migrants, who had left for Greece to earn money, have their revenues reduced, and now think about return to Georgia.

Giorgi Kvirikashvili, the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, said that transfers from Greece made 15-16% of all the money transfers arriving to Georgia.

However, as noted by Tsovinar Nazarova, the head of the NGO "Society to Promote Human's Harmonious Development", who is dealing with issues of illegal migration, in her interview to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, the official figures fail to reflect the real situation, as the National Bank indicates only the total amount of bank transfers.

"In fact, most of the money is sent by people through their acquaintances or bus drivers, because in this way they avoid paying the bank fee for making a transfer," she explained.

According to Nazarova's estimate, every year about 400 million US dollars arrive from Greece to Georgia. Currently, Greece employs about 150,000 Georgian citizens, who maintain their families at home.

"95% of these migrants are women. They are employed as cleaners or nannies – taking care of children or elderly people," she explained.

Residents of Georgia, whose relatives keep working in Greece, say they have hard times due to Greece's financial problems.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.