For a person not interested in news and modern geopolitics, Georgia is a backward country in the post-Soviet space. But anyone who is at least a little familiar with the events of 2008 has probably heard the loud phrase “Georgian miracle”. It sounds so sweet and promising that it raises concerns.
What exactly does this tempting concept mean? Is this true or a myth? And what are you really preparing for? This is exactly what we will talk about now, objectively and to the point.
True to tradition
To begin with, you need to understand as clearly as possible what the Georgian people are. Since you will have to contact him regularly and often.
Georgians are friendly and sociable people. Everyone who has had the opportunity to visit a Georgian home at least once makes legends about their endless hospitality.
In this country, they know all their neighbors by name, talk to strangers on public transport, and treat foreigners with special interest.
Here they greatly respect the family and social hierarchy and honor the opinions of elders - father, grandfather, mother, which does not always have a favorable effect on the implementation of any innovations and progressive solutions in life. They learn about something new and fashionable in Georgia from a fellow countryman who has lived abroad or from foreigners.
It is imperative to move from the “guest” status to the “friend” status if you are going to live and work here, since in Georgia everything is “by acquaintance”. We are not talking about any government services - everything is as transparent as possible in this matter, but only about various kinds of interpersonal relationships.
Transport
Fortunately, there is a metro, and transport is accessible. By the way, prices for travel are better in Russia. A bus to Tbilisi will cost 20 rubles for travel. Metro - 12 rubles. Minibuses 25 rubles. Taxis are much cheaper than in Russia. For 250 rubles you can travel from one area to another.
By the way, minibuses in Georgia can be stopped anywhere, since they are private transport. At first, I couldn’t figure out why in Russia I couldn’t get off wherever I wanted. Or is it permanent, at the stop, please stop, at the stop, please, we say just stop, or as you pass the viaduct, slow down, and that’s it. In Russia, if you say that, they look at you like an ill-bred beast, I don’t understand that. Minibus drivers are constantly insolent to passengers (especially in Ulyanovsk), and passengers speak to them on a first-name basis. My logic is this: I paid for the fare, I can do without the “please”.
By the way, the fare is charged after you get off, and not vice versa. You can, of course, pay right away, no one will blame you. But in the Russian Federation a couple of times they remarked quite rudely to me that I was not paying, although I simply forgot and paid only before the stop.
Photo by kasparova2 (https://fotki.yandex.ru/users/kasparova2)
Car prices in Georgia are a paradise for Russians. Only it is out of reach, since your customs has set such conditions that it is not profitable to buy a car from us, who will then buy a car in showrooms? Is not it? Attention, a 10-year-old Kruzak (the dream of almost all car enthusiasts in the Russian Federation) can be bought from us for 7-8 thousand dollars. For $2,000 people buy a used Opel or Audi. I’m generally silent about Mercedes and BMW, they are a dime a dozen in our country. I myself have a 2006 Nissan X-Trail for 4200 bucks. For that kind of money you can only buy a used Lada Kalina.
But Japanese cars became popular only a couple of years ago. And that’s because they have a newer year of manufacture and are not expensive.
By the way, in Georgia everyone wears a seat belt, it’s amazing, right? Both in Ulyanovsk and in Abakan, when I got into the car and tried to instinctively fasten my seat belt, they laughed at me. Like, only if we notice the traffic police, then you will buckle up, but you don’t need to do that. I was reminded of our 90s, when the same thing happened, only Misha taught us to follow the laws and be afraid. I don’t deny that maybe in Moscow and St. Petersburg they also mostly wear a seat belt, but in the regions, as my experience shows, this rule is almost not observed, just like the ban on drunk driving. In Georgia, this is an immediate deprivation of rights, and no uncle colonel will help. The system works as smoothly as a clock.
In Georgia, people smoke wherever their heart desires. In restaurants, taxis, train stations, etc. I was very surprised that in Russia they are much stricter about this, and this is a positive trend. In Georgia you can buy alcohol everywhere, for people of all ages and on all kinds of days (including holidays). In Russia, things are also much stricter with this, and this also surprised me very much, because they drink much less here than here. I can’t understand what this is connected with. Russian laws regulate both tobacco and alcohol much more strictly, I tell you this with all responsibility, but there are still many more people who drink too much. Maybe the difference is in mentality? Mystery.
In Georgia, police officers do not accept bribes. Don't even think about suggesting, I'm serious. Those times are a thing of the past. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has such strict control that such actions are very dangerous. This is another positive fact of Saakashvili’s stay in power, but of course the ungrateful people quickly forgot about it.
Briefly about the laws
Citizens of Ukraine, Russia and many other countries can legally stay in Georgia for one year. After this period, it is enough to cross back and forth to the nearest border and stay there again for a year.
For violation of deadlines, fines range from 180 to 360 lari. If you wish, you can apply for a residence permit or work visa by contacting the House of Justice. This procedure is paid and requires the collection of some documents, but obtaining a residence permit is quite possible.
The relationship between the people and the police is mutually respectful. Here you can witness the fine line between fear and respect for representatives of the law. This is why the crime rate is low.
You can contact a police officer for any help you need.
A police patrol will not stop a driver without objective reasons, but if they still exist, they will have to answer according to the law.
To obtain any service or information required from the state, you must contact the House of Justice or other relevant authorities. Their service is fast, friendly and does not require collecting numerous certificates.
Bureaucracy in this country is practically reduced to zero. Registering a private business takes 10 minutes. To do this, you only need to have a passport and pay a service fee of around 10 GEL.
Moved: how to stay in Georgia and open your own travel business?
07/02/2018 RUBRIC: Moved
Author: Manana Kaladze
28176
Is it easy to decide to move if you have lived in your hometown all your life? Manana and Oleg cast aside all doubts, sold their small business, collected 70 kg of the most necessary things, and one fine February day they found themselves on Georgian soil. For 34travel they talk about how to live, work and enjoy life in the Georgian capital.
Everyone who knows us more or less closely will declare with all responsibility that we are far from spontaneous people. Guilty on all counts! We are one of those who like to plan all the fun in advance: the menu at our parties is thought out to the smallest detail (no chips or soda!), hotels for the next trip are booked six months in advance, and the list of things for the trip is meticulously compiled in a special program on the iPad. Therefore, it is difficult to imagine a situation in which we simply come to some country, fall in love with it and remain to live according to the principle “well, we’ll figure something out later.”
We really came to Georgia and fell in love with it. This was in 2014 and it took us 4 years of spontaneity to move here to live. We had no tourist illusions about the move. We knew very well the economic situation in the country, the approximate prices for long-term rental housing (according to the old tradition, we started monitoring them 4 months before moving), and the everyday troubles that can be encountered in Georgia. But, considering that moving here is very simple both physically (it takes just over an hour to fly to the Georgian capital from our native Rostov) and morally (there is practically no language barrier and the locals are very friendly), we chose this country as our refuge for permanent residence.
Preparing to move
The procedure for moving from Russia to Georgia is very, very simple. Russian citizens can stay in the country for 365 days, after which they need to cross the border and reset their stay meter for another year. Usually, for this they use the border with Azerbaijan, which is very close, unless, of course, they go from time to time to visit their homeland. That is, there is no need to bother with a residence permit and other papers. We personally know many people who have moved who have been living according to the above-described scheme for years.
“It’s hard to imagine a situation in which we simply come to some country, fall in love with it and remain to live according to the principle “well, we’ll figure something out later””
The main issue that we had to resolve before the final departure to the homeland of khachapuri was the business that we would be doing in Tbilisi. Finding a job here is not so easy, and salaries leave much to be desired even compared to Rostov. In our hometown we had a small coffee shop where we worked for 5 years. A small business took a lot of effort and time, and I didn’t want to repeat a similar experience in another city. Although the number of karmic and bureaucratic bumps that we accumulated during this time made us almost superhuman, we associated the move primarily with an improvement in the quality of life and a reduction in stress. Therefore, coffee bondage was discarded as a business idea at the first stage of reflection. That's when we came up with Past Perfect Tbilisi.
Our project is an interactive tour of the old city using headphones. The idea of doing business in the tourism sector is, of course, not new, but it is very tempting. Every year the tourist flow to Georgia increases, if not in geometric, then in arithmetic progression for sure! According to statistics, more than 7 million tourists visited the country in 2021! This is 2 million more than the population permanently residing in it.
Of course, we were not at all interested in simply leading excursions or organizing classic tours with accommodation and transfer from the airport. We ourselves, although we always travel independently, really love good excursion products. There is no shame in paying money for a really good excursion that will open your eyes to the city and country or offer an unusual way to spend time. This is exactly what we strived for in our project! Combine an interesting adventure and an excursion that will show our favorite city from a slightly different perspective. And put it in the form of audio immersion: when nothing distracts you from exploring Tbilisi, and everything that happens becomes a real urban soundtrack. Together with the participants, we go underground, race along the stairs, take a peek into the cozy Tbilisi courtyards, and even cool off at a real waterfall!
The implementation of everything planned required a whole year of preparation. We walked up and down the entire old city, wrote a script, prepared a soundtrack, purchased equipment - in general, 365 days flew by in an instant. We're joking, of course! Probably, if we didn’t have to combine our main work and preparing for the move, we would have done it much faster. Our favorite moment during the 1.5 hours that we spend with the group is when the participants take off their headphones and share their impressions.
Housing
The same tourist flow and Airbnb are taking away all the opportunities for renting good and inexpensive housing in the city center. Of course, it is difficult to compare even the most daring price tag for long-term rental of an apartment with the benefits of daily rent. Therefore, everything that can be passed off as a “cozy loft in the old city” is rented for 40-50 dollars per night. Those few who are not ready for constant communication with tourists still rent out apartments on a monthly basis.
Their offerings fall into several categories. The first is a really good apartment, spacious and comfortable to live in, with a good recent renovation in a good area (near the center or just in a prestigious place, like the Vake district). The price tag starts from $500. It should be mentioned that in Georgia after the collapse of the Soviet Union there is no central heating, so everyone heats their home at whatever cost. In the old city this is an electric heater, in newer houses it is a gas battery of the old Karma type, which is attached to the wall, most often only in one room. In very new apartments there are the usual radiators throughout the home, heated by the same gas water heater.
The second category of housing for rent is a plasterboarder's dream. Usually this is an apartment with the most imaginative renovation, where a built-in shelf light is combined with a multi-stage ceiling of a cheerful color, flowing into plasterboard wall niches of unknown purpose. Furniture in such apartments is brought in assorted colors, wherever necessary. The price tag for such mansions is not particularly different from the first category dwellings (starts from $400-450).
The third option is especially sad, but the most affordable in price (from $250-300, depending on the area you can find cheaper ones). These are granny flats: a repairman's hand hasn't touched the local walls since at least 1985. Furniture and fixtures have survived several generations. You will be happy to find a new washing machine and refrigerator here.
You can look for an apartment to rent through a broker - this profession is thriving in Georgia. Brokers receive payment for cleverly delivered housing from the apartment owners directly. For “social phobes” like us, there are websites with advertisements. It took us 2 months to find a good apartment. The main thing here is not to give up and know that your apartment is definitely waiting for you somewhere!
Transport
Compared to our hometown, Tbilisi has developed and sufficiently convenient public transport. It is, of course, far from its European counterparts. However, now buses on the capital’s roads run strictly according to a schedule, which can be tracked on the board near the stop. If there are none, you simply send an SMS with the stop number (it is indicated exactly) to a short number, and the schedule will be sent to you in a reply message. Very comfortably! The local bus company has a website and app where you can plan your trip or track public transport in real time.
There is a small (only 2 lines) metro in Tbilisi. It is open from 6 am to 12 midnight. During peak hours, the number of chaotically moving passengers becomes a little daunting, but it is still the only mode of transport that is guaranteed to get you from point A to point B without any traffic jams.
The cost of travel on public transport ranges from 50 to 80 tetri ($0.2-0.5). There is a single pass for buses, metro minibuses and cable cars - Metromani. From September 2021, they promise to introduce payment using any Georgian and international payment card.
Work and business
The unemployment rate in Georgia is quite high, and salaries are not the highest. This is due to the low standard of living in the country as a whole. A good salary is considered to be from 1000 lari ($400). Such work is available to few, even with higher education and knowledge of 3 languages (Georgian, Russian and English). Therefore, we cannot count on vacancies here. But if you have a good business idea, then bringing it to life will not be difficult. Opening your own business in Georgia literally takes two days. Or even one, if you can fork out for double the fee for registering an individual entrepreneur.
Our experience in registering a business, unlike Russian ones, is more than positive. All you had to do was come to the House of Justice, which is located in the center of the city and resembles huge porcini mushrooms (or, as the locals call the building, the “Rafaelo box”). Here you can do everything at once and in one place. The House of Justice offers more than 300 services and serves up to 15 thousand people a day. If you want, get license plates for your car, if you want, get a birth certificate, or if you want, open a business.
In order to become an individual entrepreneur, you need to provide a passport (a foreign passport is also suitable), a copy of the apartment rental agreement and pay 20 lari ($8) right on the spot. The completed registration certificate can be obtained at the House of Justice the next day or printed from your personal account, the access number for which will be issued immediately. If you pay 50 lari ($20), the certificate will be ready within an hour.
After this, all you have to do is visit the tax office and register with the selected tax regime (the cost of the service is 10 lari or $ 4). Since we, with our excursion project Past Perfect Tbilisi, do not resell anything and work ourselves, we were able to register as micro-entrepreneurs. This means that for a certain amount of our income per year, we are exempt from taxes and submit a declaration electronically once every 365 days.
People
If you arrange a survey among our friends and acquaintances who have visited Georgia, and ask them one single question - what did you like most during your trip - we are 99% sure that they will answer - people. This can probably be considered the country’s main “unique selling proposition,” no matter how funny it may sound. In all the time spent here as tourists or locals, we have never encountered any difficulties.
“Georgia is such an amazing country where you can visit complete strangers simply by hiding from the rain under the canopy of their entrance.”
There is almost no language barrier in Tbilisi; everyone speaks either Russian or English. And if translation difficulties arise, they will get you a bilingual who will show you the way and help you choose sausages in the store. Georgia is such an amazing country where you can visit complete strangers simply by hiding from the rain under the canopy of their entrance. Of course, we have no illusions about the holiness of the local residents. But we cannot yet prove the opposite using our own example.
Prices
It is generally accepted that everything in Georgia is very cheap, almost free. Compared to Moscow or European cities, this may be true. However, we live in Tbilisi and the prices here for many things are metropolitan prices, although not on the scale of the richest state.
The cost of renting a home starts at $250 and goes up to infinity. Utility bills in winter (this includes water, gas, electricity and garbage removal) cost us approximately 50 lari ($20), in summer – 25 lari ($10). Internet in Tbilisi is quite expensive (we paid 30 lari or $12). Depending on the area, the Internet connection is medium-speed or downright slow. Cellular communications cost approximately the same for all 3 operators (Magti, Geocell, Beeline) and are distinguished by expensive mobile Internet packages - about 15 lari ($6) for 6 GB. One can only dream about “unlimited”!
What is especially pleasing is the price of fruits and vegetables in season. Just a treat for the eyes and a delight for the wallet! In June, a kilogram of delicious tomatoes will cost 2 lari ($0.8), and cucumbers will cost half as much - 1 lari ($0.4). Apricots and cherries are sold at the price of tomatoes, and a little later the price of grapes and peaches will approach this pricing policy.
If you are planning to taste hedonic pleasures, then the prices for wine will also pleasantly surprise you. It is difficult to taste frankly bad wine in Georgia. A bottle on a store counter starts from 8 GEL (simple Saperavi or Tsinandali) or $3. In the category from 25 GEL ($10) you can already treat yourself to wine from qvevri (an ancient method of producing wine in huge clay vessels buried neck-deep in the ground) .
Cultural life
When you move from a fairly large, but still provincial city to a small, but still capital, life around you becomes a real kaleidoscope of events. Museums host interesting exhibitions (Titian and his Madonna were recently brought in), wine, cheese, tea and God knows what other festivals are held at various venues, open-air events of various kinds, concerts, including world stars (in September we are waiting for The Chemical Brothers).
“It’s difficult to try frankly bad wine in Georgia”
All summer in Tbilisi on Saturdays you can enjoy the performance of the dance group "Sukhishvili", a visit to the Black Sea Jazz Festival near Batumi is planned for July, and in August you can rush to Zugdidi for the first festival in Georgia... adzhiki! For lovers of nightlife, Tbilisi also has places to roam. The famous techno club Bassiani constantly finds itself in the ratings of the best music clubs by various international publications.
Let’s not keep silent about the various nutritional establishments of the Georgian capital. Since this city is very multinational, restaurants are not limited to local cuisine alone. On the scale of a small block, you can have breakfast with a crispy French croissant, have the best khinkali in the world, then move to an authentic Thai diner, and end the day with a burger.
Domestic tourism
Georgia is an amazingly compact and at the same time diverse country in landscapes. Traveling here is a pleasure! You can always come up with a “weekend” route for yourself and head in the chosen direction.
Comfortable, albeit rather slow trains for quite reasonable money (from 12 lari or $5) can deliver to large (by Georgian standards) cities. At the end of May, on a double-decker Swiss Stadler train, blown by air conditioning and entertained by Wi-Fi, we went to see the sea in Batumi. A round trip for two cost us 80 lari ($33).
A bus or minibus will help you get to more inaccessible places. The drivers of the latter are quite capable of frightening inexperienced travelers with their reckless driving style, but we are seasoned rollers and often choose this particular method of traveling around the country. The only thing faster than these deadly minibuses in Georgia is an airplane.
“The only thing faster than deadly minibuses in Georgia is an airplane”
In every region of the country there is definitely something to see. We came to Georgia several times every year as tourists, and now we live here altogether - and we still haven’t had time to visit all the places even on the must-visit list. To fall in love with Georgia once and for all, you definitely need to go to the mountains. We were captivated by Svaneti, and especially by the high-mountain village of Ushguli, which needs to be reached off-road. The beauty of the local landscapes against the backdrop of ancient ancestral towers is definitely worth the hours spent on the road. By the way, you can get from Tbilisi and Kutaisi to Svaneti by a small Swiss plane. The destination is so popular that tickets sell out like hot khachapuri.
Many locations in Georgia still remain unknown to us. So we still have to discover again and again this wonderful country, which made us, true pragmatists, fall in love not only with the taste of excellent khinkali.
Photo from the personal archive of the heroes. Main photo: Daria Menshchikova
Tags: Georgia
28176
Housing issue
Renting an apartment in the largest cities of Georgia will cost from 100 to 400 dollars, depending on its quality, location and your needs. But it’s still worth focusing on the amount of 250-350 dollars. Most often, this amount does not include utility bills, which can range from 50 to 100 lari.
Buying an apartment in Georgia is also considered a good investment. This market is incredibly wide and diverse, and requires writing a separate article to understand all the nuances.
But the most popular among both local citizens and foreigners are apartments in new buildings.
The average cost of such housing ranges from $350 to $800. The price is affected by the stage of construction of the high-rise building and the degree of finishing and renovation of the apartment - it can be a black and white frame, or a turnkey renovation. It is possible to purchase an apartment in installments.
The language of communication
The entire indigenous population of Georgia speaks their native language. The Russian language here is understood by most residents of large settlements, and in some villages they do not know it at all.
In service places and at the everyday level, problems with communication generally do not arise, so a Russian-speaking person feels quite comfortable here.
The Georgian language itself is quite complex both in its structure and pronunciation. But after living for a while, you can learn basic words, phrases, the alphabet and numbers that can make communication much easier.
