In Georgia, you can ski in the mountains in the morning and sunbathe on the Black Sea beach in the afternoon. This fact is just one of the many features of life in this country that Olga Kravchenko, a 27-year-old IT specialist from Belarus, told us about. Olga shared her life experience first in Batumi, and then to Tbilisi.
It was difficult to get used to paid elevators and the way Georgians drive on the roads.
Adaptation and solution of household issues
— My name is Olya, and I work as a frontend developer in an IT company. I have been living in Georgia for about a year in total, but we moved 1.5 years ago due to a work relocation. At first we lived in Batumi for 6 months, and now we live in Tbilisi.
We adapted quite quickly, because here, we can say, there is no language barrier and you can live peacefully without knowing Georgian.
Open a bank account in Georgia is easy — it took me about a week. Simcard is also easy to buy, you just need to find the salon on the map. The only thing is, you should not buy SIM cards and change currency at the airport — everything is much more expensive there.
The Internet was also fast for us, payment for utilities is all in Internet banking, there are no special difficulties. Submit a declaration on I can do it in 5 minutes — everything is so simple and convenient.
I work remotely, mostly from home. My company has an office in Tbilisi, so I visit it occasionally. To be honest, I have not had experience visiting coworking spaces, but I know that they are in There are a lot of Batumi and Tbilisi. Sometimes I work from cafes — some of them themselves share zones where you can work, which is also a plus.
First impressions and features of the country
— Compared to Belarus, there is dangerous traffic on the roads, both from pedestrians and drivers. You can stand for a few minutes at a pedestrian crossing and no one will let you through, not even the police. Here is the approach: you need to show your intentions to the driver, and only then will he stop. I’m still not used to it in this regard.
Also, as I understand it, Georgians love dogs and feed them. All stray dogs are chipped and most likely vaccinated. There are a lot of dogs in the city: sometimes a pack of 6-7 dogs can follow you (I had this). Each dog has its own chip of a certain color (red, yellow or green), which indicates how friendly it is.
One day a dog followed us, and we went into the store to buy her bread. When we offered it to her, she looked at us with some bewilderment. Then, in the store, the saleswoman said that she would only be happy with the sausage. In general, the dogs here are very spoiled and many are obese.
I love animals, but I don’t want to pet or interact with dogs once again, since many of my friends have already been bitten, and they were not very happy that they needed to be vaccinated.
The income tax here is only 1%.
The pros and cons of living in Georgia
— In Georgia has many advantages and disadvantages. I’ll start with the pros:
- Ideal conditions for individual entrepreneurs, as the income tax is only 1%. It’s just a fairy tale. My colleagues from Poland pays about 20%, and this is a huge difference. It’s easier to open an individual entrepreneur: you can keep within 2-3 days along with opening a bank account.
- Minimum bureaucracy.
- A pleasant warm climate and a large number of sunny days, which directly affects the mood.
- Beautiful nature. There are so many beautiful places here — it would be time to travel. Here, in one day, you can ski in the snowy mountains and sunbathe on the beach on the Black Sea coast.
- An abundance of seasonal fruits and vegetables (very tasty tomatoes), which are quite affordable.
- Georgian cuisine, which is really delicious. My favorite dish is khinkali with cheese. However, we have already had enough of this and enjoy simple homemade food like buckwheat or borscht more.
- There is no language barrier: many Georgians speak Russian or at least understand it. In case of misunderstanding, we switch to English.
Now about the cons.
- There are a lot of people who smoke, and I just can’t stand the smell of cigarettes. Many taxi drivers may not ask and start smoking in the car. When we lived in Batumi, a group of neighbors gathered on our floor, who were playing cards and, of course, smoking — there was even a smell in the apartment. I really don’t like it.
- People do not always behave decently and punctually, as practice has shown. There were moments with friends when they did not get some of the money back for the apartment. And local taxi drivers often practice this — they click that they have already arrived, but in fact they are not nearby, and the search for a car does not always fit into the free waiting (I’m talking about Yandex Go).
- There are very few restaurants with good quality service. And here there is such a feature: almost every institution asks for additional money for the service — from 10 to 20%. Sometimes it’s unpleasant, especially if you didn’t like the service at all.
Prices and real estate
— As for prices, in addition to rent, you need to count on about the following amounts: $100 for communal services, $200—$300 for food, plus $100 for transport and taxis.
By the way, public transport is quite affordable here. There is such a feature in Tbilisi: if you use a travel card, the trip costs 1 GEL, but if you change transport within 30 minutes, you can continue to travel on the same ticket. This is very beneficial if you need to make several transfers, and it doesn’t matter what kind of transport. And in Batumi public transport is even cheaper.
That is, at the moment in Georgia can live comfortably on $800—$1000 including rent.
— It is worth saying that when we arrived, the prices for renting apartments were already high — they asked for $900 for a euro-two. At that time, we rented an apartment with neighbors for $350, since the apartment itself was about $700 or $750.
A year later, we rented an entire apartment in the same area for $450. Now prices in Tbilisi are close to adequate, but on average you need to focus on $ 500—$ 600. There are options in more expensive areas — where prices start at about $1,000.
But in The price situation in Batumi is very interesting. We rented a studio for $450, but we were lucky, because for such a price, as a rule, they offered very sad options, with a musty smell and poor repair. This year they also wanted to rent, but adequate options cost more than $ 1,000. That’s why we stayed in Tbilisi.
By the way, such type of housing as kolivings is very common here, where several people rent a large apartment with 5-6 rooms. We once lived in this format for a week — for extroverts, in general, this option is suitable.
Regarding the purchase of real estate in Georgia, studio apartments in Tbilisi cost from $50,000 and above. My friend bought it for $100,000 at the time of construction, plus $20,000 spent on repairs. Here you can take out loans, and in general, if you earn in foreign currency, it turns out even profitable. In Batumi, an apartment under construction can be bought for $20,000 or even less.
Among the features of housing, I can mention paid elevators. That is, you either need to pay with a coin to get through, or have a pre-paid, special chip for the elevator. This surprised me, since in Belarus, for example, the coverage of these costs is provided within the framework of general utility payments. I also noticed that there are no windows in the space between the floors, that is, it is always cold in the entrance in winter.
Georgians are very sociable, but at the same time they have a hot temperament.
Safety and leisure
— In Georgia, I would say, is safe. Sometimes you can read about theft and shootings in the news, but very rarely, and this can happen in any country. I can walk alone in the evening without any problems, whereas my friend from Poland is afraid to do this.
Georgians themselves are very sociable, but at the same time they have a hot temperament. They live a relaxed life and take their time. It’s more expensive to sort things out with the locals. To be honest, sometimes I’m afraid to do it. When the neighbors are in Batumi was making a lot of noise, I couldn’t stand it and went to sort it out, but I just burst into tears and asked them not to make noise. They were afraid that I was crying, and they dispersed.
And so, of course, there are a lot of good people in Georgia, and I’m glad that most of them are just like that. They will advise you where to go, and they will definitely ask you where you came from.
I like to walk in the mountains. Such hiking trails are very common in Tbilisi, and it’s very cool that it can be done within the city limits. Almost every weekend or after work we go to the mountains. This is both a charge and an opportunity to see the beauty of the city.
We come to Batumi to relax near the sea. Sometimes we go on excursions. We visited Kazbegi, Borjomi, Mtskheta and other popular destinations.
I would like to wish future expats patience, accuracy when crossing the road, and more travel around the country. In general, to live in Georgia is a great experience, in my opinion. And I am very grateful to him. The amount of sun is definitely charging.
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Yulia Yanukovych Editor-in-Chief
I am responsible for the work of the editorial office. I write expert interviews and guides.
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