Russian invested $420,000 in Georgia and lost his residence permit

Andrey Nikolaev is from Krasnodar. In 2017, he moved from Russia to Georgia. “Carrot love happened to a Georgian woman. At first he planned to live as a tourist, gradually began to settle down. As a result, business, work, family were delayed, ”the man explains the reason for emigration.

— In 2017, I received the first residence permit for six months for doing business, — says Andrey. – In those days, business residence permits were issued easily. It was enough to register a company, and the next day it was possible to apply for residence. Every six months my company was checked. If everything worked, the residence permit was extended without any problems.

Now the process has been made more difficult. When opening a company, a residence permit is no longer issued.

The last residence permit I received in 2020 was an investment one. It is issued for a period of five years, provided that you have invested more than 300 thousand dollars in the country’s economy.

My investments were at the level of 420 thousand dollars – this is an investment in real estate and wine production. The residence permit was issued until 2025. After the expiration of its validity, the law prescribes the issuance of an indefinite permanent residence. But so far Georgia has not issued such a document to any Russian citizen. Whereas earlier a person received a passport after two years of marriage with a citizen of Georgia or after five years of residence in the country.

Now the conditions have changed dramatically. Residence permits are either not issued, and if they are, then for a very short period of time. And most importantly, it can be taken away without explanation of reasons the very next day after issuance.

My story is sad, I was deprived of a residence permit when I left the country for a week. The reason is a “threat to national security.” This year, approximately 90 percent of refusals and deprivations of residence permits come with this wording. For a more detailed answer, the authorities suggest going to court. But I have not met a single person who would win such a process.

My friends, well-known people in Georgia, were also given refusals, despite the fact that each of them has been to the country dozens of times and lived there with their families for a long time.

And here is one more small detail – over the past 5 years, not a single Russian male has received a Georgian passport. The country’s authorities are not interested in the scale of investments. I personally know a man who invested five million dollars in a hotel in Batumi. Not only was he denied a passport, but he was not even allowed into the country with a two-year residence permit during the pandemic. By the way, they didn’t let anyone with a residence permit then, it doesn’t matter if you own real estate or not. Recently, as I understand it, Russian oppositionists are not allowed in.

The issuance and subsequent deprivation of a residence permit is another trick of the Georgian authorities. When I was deprived of my residence permit, I left the country. And it turned out that being outside the status of a residence permit for more than 90 days resets the previous period. That is, in fact, I no longer have the opportunity to restore the residence permit, I cannot extend it and continue accumulating the period for obtaining citizenship.

By the way, I applied three times to the president for citizenship in a special manner, this option is available in every country. This requires, as a rule, to do something useful for the country. According to my data, since 2017, the President of Georgia has granted 4,700 such applications.

My grounds and arguments were quite sufficient – I donated several houses and one apartment to low-income families with children and the elderly, which relieved the burden on the state, since the queue for housing for refugees in Georgia reaches more than 25 years. I created and successfully operated a charitable foundation to save homeless animals. For 4 years, the fund has helped more than 400 people who keep animals, and this is about 2,500 pets.

We created shelters where 100 or more cats and dogs lived. The problem of street animals is the scourge of modern Georgia and the heartbreaking realities of Georgian cities and villages.

I bought a rare commemorative coin from the time of Queen Tamara at an auction. There are only two of them in the world. According to a rough estimate, the cost of each is about $ 15,000. The coin was handed over to the Batumi Archaeological Museum.

For the last two years he has been involved in winemaking. We created a company, chose the most promising and popular wine brands, attracted investors, invested in technology and production. Within a year, we received all permits for the production, bottling and sale of wine within the country. Successfully passed laboratory tests, both Georgian and European, in particular, tests in France. Participated in specialized festivals, were marked by the organizers as a promising team. This year we planned to participate in the largest European wine festivals, in particular, in France and Germany.

Plans fell through due to the external situation in the world. But the Georgian authorities also complicated the work process by depriving me of my residence permit and deciding not to let me into the country. Now the wine projects have been temporarily put on hold. Georgia is not stable in making any decisions, the risks of losing funds are now very high, and this is the main indicator for investors.

There is still a provision allowing foreigners to stay in the country for 365 days. But now the parliament is considering a law on reducing the period of visa-free stay in Georgia to 90 days. And I have no doubts that it will be accepted.

“You will always be a visiting guest”

“Georgia has changed since 2017,” says Nikolaev. – Your business will not be interesting to anyone, and no one will take it into account. The largest investors, if they do not leave Georgia, look at it with apprehension, there is an understanding of great risks. The authorities do not really take care of the country, they only pretend.

There are two parliamentary forces in the country – one is trying to stay in power, the other – to seize it. And Russians will always be alien guests for Georgians, no matter what you do.

Today, the country has a negative trend in all areas – economic, political, ease of doing business, freedom of speech, and so on.

As a result, people stopped staying in the country, many consider it as a transit point. The period of residence in Georgia for everyone has been reduced from a couple of years “wait and see” to a couple of months “everything is clear to us, we are leaving faster.”

— My friends moved to Georgia and are very happy.

Everyone is happy at first. Outwardly, it seems that Georgians treat everyone well. They will take you around the country and treat you with wine. But they behave differently behind your back. “As soon as the money runs out, so does the wine” – this is how I would characterize Georgian hospitality.

There is a lot of wine here, but mostly it is homemade mash. The shops, of course, have factory alcohol, but most tourists tend to try homemade wine, “like in the best houses of Paris and London.”

In 90 percent of cases, you will be served low-quality bodyaga. There is nothing wrong here, except that the Georgians seriously call it wine. Old people in the villages make it using the same technology as mash somewhere in Omsk, in garages. These are local historical traditions. It would be absolutely not important, but then this product should be served without the stormy pathos inherent in Georgians, in order to be honest.

However, the tourist is not important. Yes, and rightly so – such wine still gives a cheerful mood.

– If you decide to move to Georgia for permanent residence, there will be one outcome, sooner or later you will leave the country with disappointment, – Andrey believes. – I advise everyone who is just going to or is already living in Georgia – as soon as you feel the first bells, think about leaving. It won’t get better, it will only get worse.

I will also say a few words for those who have problems with the law in the Russian Federation and have heard that Georgia does not extradite Russians. It’s not true, it shows. In the last couple of years alone, 21 people have been officially extradited to the Russian authorities.

I myself am still going to go to Georgia on business in November. Formally, I have no refusal of entry. Let’s see what will happen.