Georgia: Political Choices Fuel Economic Fears
Amid rising rates of labour migration, some warn that a pivot away from Europe could gravely impact country’s economy.
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Women labour migrants endure years of domestic drudgery and loneliness to support the families left behind.
Bacho, a 50-year-old agricultural worker in the small town of Senaki in western Georgia, considers himself to be a lucky man.
Unlike many others in Senaki, Bacho has a stable job at a local nut plantation. For the last four years, he has earned a solid wage monitoring production across a quarter of the 2,000 hectare estate.
“Every family in the town has at least one member who has left to Europe for work,” he said. “When a man dies in a village, there’s hardly anybody to come to the funeral.”
But Bacho worries that his good fortune may soon run out. Georgia’s October 26 parliamentary elections are seen by many as the moment the country will choose whether to build on its ties with Europe or move closer to Russia.
The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party have passed a series of Russian-style laws that critics warn severely hamper civil liberties, not least the so-called Foreign Agents Law.
Adopted by parliament on May 28, this means that all non-profits that receive more than 20 per cent of their income from abroad need to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power”.
Many fear that the law will have a far-reaching impact across all sectors of Georgian life. Nearly 25,000 NGOs have already refused to register as serving foreign interests, putting them at risk of liquidation.
The plantation manager Levan, who asked that his surname not be used, said he believed it could even put the future of his own industry in jeopardy.
“Agriculture in Georgia has been developing only through the support of international grants,” he continued. “Under the Russian Law, 121 million US dollars has already been canceled; another 40 million dollars is expected to be canceled as well.”
Without international grants, Georgian agriculture - which had steadily grown in recent years - will be unable to function and be left dependent on the Russian market, Levan warned. If GD wins the election, abandoning Georgia’s European course could have a devastating effect.
“It’s extremely difficult to compete in European market with Georgian products, but the support from the EU still gave us chances to export nuts, blueberry, wine and apples,” he said. “Ruining our relationship with Europe will isolate us from the western world and will totally stop our business.”
Bacho is keenly aware of the possible impact on the plantation’s 350 employees.
“There are no other workplaces in Senaki, I won’t be able to find another job here,” he said. “In case I’m fired, I’ll also have to emigrate like everybody else.”
According to the National Statistics Office of Georgia, out of a population of 3.8 million more than 163,000 Georgian citizens left the country in 2023, up from 100,000 in 2022.
Although Georgia was granted EU candidate status last year, the EU has made it clear that its current path risks derailing that process, warning that it may even reconsider Georgia’s current visa-free access.
Shorena Berdzenishvili, 44, is planning to travel to Germany soon to take up a job as a nanny. Having worked in childcare in both Georgia and Germany, she said that the poor working conditions at home meant she had been left with little choice as to her next move.
As an immigrant with the license to work as a nanny in Germany, Berdzenishvili can automatically access health and unemployment insurance. But in Georgia, domestic work is characterised as informal employment, leaving employees with no access to legal or social security protections. The labour rights of domestic workers fully depend on the good will of the employer, and there is no minimum wage.
The only organisation protecting the rights of informal domestic workers is the Georgian Nanny Association, founded four years ago. It supports nannies with legal and labour consultation, trainings and an emergency hotline.
It is also funded solely through international grants.
“We didn’t register as pursuing the interest of foreign power and we never will, because we are serving Georgian interests,” explained its co-founder Ina Charkviani. “The government is not defending the basic rights and needs of our citizens, and under this system, we are replacing their role with international and western support.
“For this, we are denounced as agents and traitors of the country. This election is a crucial moment to declare clearly who the enemy is here."
Charkviani said that protecting labour rights was a central element of building for the country’s future, not to mention slowing the tide of migration.
“When we say we want to choose the European path, we mean the direction that provides our citizens with dignified conditions to work and live,” she continued. “Only if we follow European standards and recommendations is it possible to change today’s system. Otherwise, we’re left in the hands of a power that leaves no other option but to emigrate.”
