11:35, 14 December 2019

After ban on air flights to Russia, Georgia lost USD 300 million

Tbilisi airport. Photo: Gmaisuradze15 - https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Тбилиси_(аэропорт)#/media/Файл:Tbilisi_airport_1.jpg

The National Bank of Georgia has estimated the country's losses in tourism from the cancellation of air travels with Russia at USD 300 million.

The "Sputnik-Georgia" reports with reference to Koba Gvenetadze, the President of the National Bank of Georgia, that Russian ban on direct flights to Georgia has resulted in a reduction of the Georgian budget revenues from tourism by USD 300 million.

According to Mr Gvenetadze, the suspension of Russian-Georgian flights and information about possible trade sanctions have also gave rise to expectations of a depreciation of the lari and sped up the inflation, which amounted to 7% in November instead of the forecasted 3%.

The "Caucasian Knot" has also reported that, according to the study conducted by the online edition TBC Research, in July 2019, the flow of Russian tourists to Georgia decreased by 21.4% compared to the same month of 2018.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 14, 2019 at 07:14 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.