Russian sales of liquified natural gas (LNG) to Georgia were up 44.2% year over year in the first seven months of 2023, according to the Georgian Oil Product Importers Union, which reported the data on Monday.
Georgia purchased a total volume of 31,500 tons of Russian LNG, compared to 21,840 tons over the same period one year prior. Russia supplied 99.6% of Georgian LNG imports.
Oil bitumen imports from Russia increased by 22.2% to 61,100 tons over the same period, according to the union.
The biggest suppliers of bitumen to Georgia were Russia, Iran, and Türkiye, with Russia supplying 44.4% of the nation’s imports, Iran supplying 31.7%, and Türkiye supplying 21.4%. Other suppliers of bitumen to Georgia include Azerbaijan (2.3%) and Turkmenistan (0.2%).
In a separate report, the National Statistics Office of Georgia (GeoStat) reported that trade turnover with Russia was over $1.5 billion over the first seven months of 2023, with a year over year growth of 24.7%.
Georgia saw about $416.2 million in exports to Russia, which was an increase of 26.2%, while imports from Russia increased 24.2%, to roughly $1.08 billion. Russia is the second largest trading partner with Georgia, with only Türkiye trading more.
GeoStat noted that year over year, exports of wine to Russia saw volumes surge 35.9% to over 36,500 tons for the first seven months of 2023. In monetary terms, the sum of wine exports was equal to $99.2 million.
