The Guardian: Russia’s ruble crisis poses threat to Georgia

The recent collapse of the Russian ruble is posing a threat to nine countries relying on remittances including Georgia, claims one of Britain's leading newspapers.

Georgia and eight other countries, which heavily rely on cash sent home from Russia for their economic buoyancy, could collectively lose more than $10 billion USD (19.6 billion GEL) in 2015 because of the weak Russian currency, reported The Guardian based on World Bank figures.

Twelve percent of Georgia’s economy, 21 percent of Armenia’s, 31.5 percent of Kyrgyzstan’s, 25 percent of Moldova’s, 42 percent of Tajikistan’s, 5.5 percent of Ukraine’s, 4.5 percent of Lithuania’s, 2.5 percent of Azerbaijan’s and 12 percent of Uzbekistan’s, rely on remittances, said the World Bank data.

In most of these cases money from immigrants in Russia comprised a significant portion of these inflows. About 40 percent of remittances to Georgia, Armenia, Moldova and Ukraine were from Russia, rising to 79 percent for Kyrgyzstan.

The drop in the value of the ruble not only decimated the amount sent home by workers from the Caucasus and central Asia, but could lead to political unrest, warned the Guardian.

The situation could be problematic for Russia too, which was expected to rely on immigrant labour for the formidable building projects as the country prepares to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup.