OREANDA-NEWS Russians transferred 26% less money to Georgia in 2023 than in 2022 — in the amount of $1.53 billion versus $2.07 billion, according to statistics from the National Bank of Georgia. At the same time, Russia provides the largest inflow of funds to individuals: Italy is in second place in this indicator ($518.6 million, +20.1% compared to the previous year), the United States is in third ($456.4 million, +39.6%).

Earlier, Business Media Georgia reported that in 2022 alone, Russians opened 109,949 accounts in Georgia (from the beginning of the military operation in Ukraine to the end of the year). According to the Georgian Central Bank, money transfers received from Russians increased fivefold in 2022 compared to 2021. In 2023, the Georgian regulator did not provide such statistics on the number of accounts.

Georgia became one of the main locations for Russians after the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. A significant reduction in the volume of transfers occurred after a number of credit institutions - Loko Bank, St. Petersburg Social and Commercial Bank, Tinkoff Bank, as well as Solidarity and Unistream credit organizations — were included in the SDN list of the United States in July last year. The latter was the operator of the payment system of the same name, which allowed making cross-border transfers from Russian cards. At the end of July, many banks located in Russia's neighboring countries (including Georgia, suspended work with Unistream). In addition, in December 2022 and April 2023, it was reported about the forced blocking and closure of Russian accounts in the Georgian Bank of Georgia and TBC Bank.