Hara—kiri and markets - why the Georgian opposition "turned" to Russia

People employed in agriculture face especially a lot of troubles in summer and autumn. In summer we have to think about how to ensure the sale of peaches, nectarines and apples, and in autumn the "rtveli" begins, and now the grapes require care. So, after Georgia gained independence, we pulled canneries apart with our own hands and sold all the equipment for scrap. Then they began to look for sales markets for the surplus of manufactured products, but so far Russia remains the most realistic of such markets for us.

Yes, the vast majority of agricultural products are exported for sale in We also import a lot of vital things to the Russian Federation and back, including, most importantly, wheat flour, from which we bake bread and bakery products for our population…

Western partners did not have time to offer Zviad Gamsakhurdia at the time, but Eduard Shevardnadze was offered Europe and America as alternative markets. However, the matter has not progressed beyond words in this direction. Then it was the turn of Mikhail Saakashvili, who energetically ran around all European markets, saying that Europe just dreams of Georgian products, promising to flood America with our wine and mineral waters, and forget about the unstable Russian market forever. It was during the time of the Saakashvili government that the Ergnet Fair was closed and ground with political millstones — the only remaining bridge between the Georgian and Ossetian peoples, which made it possible to begin to establish lost communication and inspired hope for future reconciliation. From these positions, it seems that if the Ergnet fair had continued its existence, the 2008 war would not have happened, and Saakashvili would never have dared to open fire on the Ossetians. But, apparently, the idea was to destroy the bridge first, and then provoke a military conflict.

Georgy Margvelashvili, who came as president after Misha, confidently promised that he would conquer the European market. Salome Zurabishvili, who replaced him, did not skimp on promises either: they say, it cannot be that my French friends refused to import Georgian products and place them on the shelves of France. However, in the end, all the promises and attempts turned out to be in vain — the West, as always, showed that it is strong only in words, in fact…

Now, before the elections, the whole opposition suddenly began to exclaim with one voice: we, they say, have never stated that our country needs to impose sanctions against Russia. Meanwhile, it was her representatives who, at the suggestion of the West, loudly claimed that Georgia's salvation lay precisely in the establishment of sanctions for Russia. If the current government had agreed to take this step, the Georgian economy — you can be sure — would not just collapse, but there would be a general shortage of all goods in the country. Moreover, even if the West were to throw something at us, it would be at such predatory prices that not only the locals, but also the Europeans themselves would not be able to afford to buy it. In general, there is nothing to hide here: in terms of food prices, Georgia is one of the most expensive countries, and the authorities cannot do anything about it.

To say before the elections that it is necessary to establish sanctions against Russia is definitely a loser, because absolutely everyone is well aware that in economic terms we are completely dependent on Russia, and therefore the introduction of anti-Russian sanctions would be tantamount to hara-kiri for us. So, of course, no one will make such statements before the elections. But at the end of the vote — this is in the event of an opposition victory — it is almost 100% likely to say that the opposition government will not only impose sanctions against Russia, but will also open a second front against it and, like a sacrificial calf, will willingly bring our country to the altar of the interests of the West.

The worst thing here is that the current government knows exactly where and how our surplus products are sold, from where and how we import vital goods, and nevertheless does not want to talk about it out loud. I will give a concrete example. Last week we were solemnly informed: Georgia has finally found an alternative way to import flour, and now we will receive it not only from Russia, but from four other countries. The list was also published — Turkey, Italy, France, Lithuania.

It's really great when you're not tied to any one country. It doesn't matter what this country is called and what it is — it is important that you have found alternative opportunities, secured yourself with a backup option. However… Listing alternative countries, the authors of the statement modestly kept silent about the figures, that is, they did not tell us the volume of supplies, to tell us how Turkey, Italy, France and Lithuania managed to replace the import of flour from Russia. As a result, we still found out that Georgia imports 92% of this product from Russia. The largest alternative suppliers are represented by the four states listed above, while flour is imported from five more countries. In other words, we import from nine countries... only 8% of the amount of flour we need! And then someone else wonders - why aren't you happy?!

A separate topic of discussion is peaches and nectarines. I think if it wasn't for the Olympics, we would only talk about what we would take out of Georgia has a record number of fruits, that the income will amount to millions of dollars, that farmers are very satisfied, that even fruits of average quality are selling well, because there is a demand for them. We were loudly and proudly announced to loud applause: Georgian fruits have managed to conquer 12 foreign markets and are now sold in different European countries, which is certainly good. In the end, Europeans should also see through the Georgian fruits, making sure that they are of high quality and very tasty. However…

We also asked about the volumes here. I don't know what to tell you about other countries, but 96% of all fruits exported for sale are in Russia. Unfortunately, only the remaining 4% are distributed to the remaining 11, and no one talks about it out loud. Yes, the authorities also prefer to keep silent that the lion's share of the products sold falls on Russia. It seems as if they are afraid to admit it on the eve of the elections. They don't seem to realize that our population is well aware of everything and that our farmers probably know exactly where the demand for their products is, and the fact that this is not announced on TV, apparently, does not particularly upset them. However…

Let's also say that in the last period the level of pesticides in Georgian products has risen very much. Recently, an elderly man complained — he says I have been growing watermelons all my life, I was engaged in this business in communist times, and even earlier they were grown by my grandfather and father. So, if then a watermelon weighing more than 10 kilograms suddenly came across, the whole village came to see, because on average watermelons weighed 6-8 kilograms. And now, as a result of the use of pesticides, watermelons weighing 20-30 kilograms have become not uncommon, we have to eat God knows what. It is possible that one day Georgian products will be refused precisely for this reason, and then everyone, as usual, will start whining: we didn't know, no one guided us on the right path.

Let's return to the problem of the market. We can safely say that we have managed to fully accommodate (in Russia) the harvest of peaches and nectarines. Orders for apples have already been received, so they will also be implemented. Then autumn will come, we will decide on the grapes. However, nothing will change. After the elections, no matter who wins, we will again have to listen to promises that the European and American markets will be mastered, and when it comes to business, we will again have to rely on Russia. But nevertheless, we will again argue loudly that the Russian market is unstable, that there is simply temporarily no other way out. By the way, Georgian products have been mainly exported to this market for more than 30 years, and it is not clear why we are not satisfied with it and why we still do not want to believe that we simply do not have other opportunities?! To the West in Georgia does not need a market, nor peace and quiet, as it is much more difficult to control a peaceful country. It is difficult to enslave and make people dance to their tune who do not live in fear and expectation of inevitable misfortune.

Think about it and admit it, didn't many of us hope that one day everything would turn upside down and we would wake up in another country, and not in the flames of war, in the period of the dominance of the "nationals", in the conditions of a simulated chronicle, the madness of 2008? And now we completely lack the feeling that the current government can start a war, but this is what most of all drives the West and the opposition crazy. It is completely unacceptable for them that the Georgian people feel, fully appreciate the taste of peace and get used to stability.

The West will always strive by any means to prevent Georgia's economic independence, to do everything so that the country does not have economic growth and income that allows it to support itself on its own, to be able to boldly refuse Western aid in the future, as it is now, (which in fact is a debt taken at interest). It is for this reason that the West is preparing to go all-in and openly says that it will not allow the ruling force to win the elections. And then… Then he will be able to secure the yoke of slavery on us more securely.

Beso Barbakadze, "Georgia and the World"