Economy

Abstract

Georgia’s economic landscape is intriguing. Georgia has long had well-developed industries that require sophisticated skills. Yet by some measures it is clubbed with developing countries. Coal is the major fossil fuel and its forecasted reserves equal hundreds of millions of tons. There are 15 famous oil deposits in Georgia out of which the biggest is the Patardzeuli deposit which is considered to include 80 % of the forecasted oil reserves of the country. The “Georgian” oil is of high quality. Gas reserves are significant. In 2000, Georgia extracted 80 million m³ of gas and in 2008 this number increased to 110 million m³. It is possible to increase the extraction of gas to 3–4 billion m³. Thermal waters have a long history in Georgia. Resources of thermal waters are almost inexhaustible; nowadays only about 35 % of the existing sources are used and the rest are wasted. The manufacturing industry is well developed, producing cast iron, rolled metal, steel pipes, and many other widely used goods. Energy is generated by fossil fuel power plants and hydroelectric power stations. The chemical industry is on the rebound. This chapter discusses a short history of Georgia’s economy.