Georgia on Its Way to the Market Oriented Economy

Introduction

A Painful Transition: Civil Conflicts and Economic Collapse.

Georgia is a country of 5.4 million people bounded by the Black Sea, Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey. At independence in April 1991, it appeared to be among the best placed of the former Soviet states to make a successful transition. It had a highly educated labor force, a long tradition of entrepreneurship, a significant underground economy, a prosperous agricultural sector and substantial natural resources. And its location made it a primary transit corridor in the Caucasus.