How is Life in Georgia? Interview About Work, Adaptation, and Rent Prices

In Georgia, you can go skiing in the mountains in the morning and sunbathe on the Black Sea beach in the afternoon. This fact is just one of many peculiarities of life in this country, which were told to us by Olga Kravchenko, a 27-year-old IT specialist from Belarus. Olga shared her experience of living first in Batumi and then in Tbilisi.

It was difficult to get used to paid elevators and the way Georgians drive on the roads.

Adaptation and Solving Everyday Issues

— My name is Olya, and I work as a front-end developer in an IT company. I have been living in Georgia for about a year in total, but we moved 1.5 years ago for work relocation. At first, we lived in Batumi for 6 months, and now in Tbilisi.

We adapted quite quickly. Opening a bank account in Georgia is easy — it took me about a week. Buying a SIM card is also easy, you just need to find a store on the map. The only thing is, you shouldn't buy SIM cards and change currency at the airport — everything is much more expensive there.

We also got the Internet quickly, payment for utilities — everything is in Internet banking, no special difficulties. I can file a declaration for an individual entrepreneur 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 no experience of visiting coworking spaces, but I know that there are quite a few of them in Batumi and Tbilisi. Sometimes I work from a café — some of them themselves divide the areas where you can work, which is also a plus.

First Impressions and Peculiarities of the Country

— Compared to Belarus, the traffic here is dangerous, both for pedestrians and for drivers. You can stand for several minutes at a crosswalk, and no one will let you cross, not even the police. Here, the approach is this: you need to show your intentions to the driver, and only then will he stop. I am still not used to this.

Also, as I understand, 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 happen). Each dog has its own chip of a certain color (red, yellow, or green), which indicates how friendly it is.

One day a dog tagged along with us, and we went into a store to buy her some bread. When we offered it to her, she looked at us with some bewilderment. Then the saleswoman at the store said that she would only be happy with 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 any more than necessary, since many of my friends have already been bitten and were not very happy about having to get vaccinated.

Income tax here is only 1%.

Pros and Cons of Living in Georgia

— 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 pay about 20%, and this is a huge difference. Opening an individual entrepreneur is as easy as pie: you can do it in 2–3 days, including opening a bank account.
• Minimum bureaucracy.
• A pleasant warm climate and a large number of sunny days, which directly affect the mood.
• Beautiful nature. There are so many beautiful places here — if only there was time to travel. Here in one day you can ski in the snowy mountains and sunbathe on the beach on the Black Sea.
• An abundance of seasonal fruits and vegetables (very tasty tomatoes), which are quite affordable.
• Georgian cuisine, which is really tasty. My favorite dish is khinkali with cheese. However, we have already had our fill of this and enjoy simple home-cooked food like buckwheat or borscht.
• 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 downsides:

• There are many 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 would gather on our floor, play cards, and, naturally, smoke — the smell was even in the apartment. I really don't like this.
• People do not always behave decently and punctually, as practice has shown. There were moments when friends did not return part of the money for their apartment. And local taxi drivers often practice this — they press 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 time (I am talking about Yandex Go).
• There are very few restaurants with good quality service. And here is a peculiarity: almost every establishment asks for additional money for service — from 10 to 20%. Sometimes it is unpleasant, especially if you did not like the service at all.

Prices and Real Estate

— As for prices, in addition to rent, you need to expect approximately the following amounts: $100 for utilities, $200–$300 for food, plus $100 for transportation and taxis.

By the way, public transport here is quite affordable. In Tbilisi there is such a feature: if you use a travel card, the trip costs 1 lari, but if you change transport within 30 minutes, you can continue to travel on the same ticket. This is very profitable if you need to make several transfers, and it does not matter what transport. And in Batumi, public transport is even cheaper.

That is, at the moment in Georgia, you can live comfortably on $800–$1000, taking into account rent.

— It is worth mentioning that when we arrived, the rental prices for apartments were already high — they were asking $900 for a Euro-sized two-room apartment. We then 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 the prices in Tbilisi are close to reasonable, but on average you need to focus on $500–$600. There are options in more expensive areas — prices there start at about $1000.

But in Batumi, the situation with prices 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 moldy smell and poor repairs. This year we wanted to rent, too, but adequate options cost more than $1000. So we stayed in Tbilisi.

By the way, this type of housing 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.

As for buying real estate in Georgia, one-room apartments in Tbilisi cost from $50,000 and up. 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 at the construction stage can be bought for $20,000 or even less.

Among the peculiarities of the housing, I can note the paid elevators. That is, you either need to pay with a coin to go through or have a pre-paid, special chip for the elevator. This surprised me, since in Belarus, for example, coverage of these costs is provided for 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, it is safe. Sometimes you can read about thefts 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 so.

Georgians themselves are very sociable, but at the same time they have a hot temperament. They live a relaxed life and are in no hurry. Sorting things out with the locals is not worth it. To be honest, sometimes I am afraid to do it. When the neighbors in Batumi were very noisy, I could not stand it and went to sort it out, but I just burst into tears and asked them to be quiet. They were afraid that I was crying and left.

And of course, there are many good people in Georgia, and I am glad that most of them are like that. They will advise you where to go and will definitely ask where you came from.

I love walking in the mountains. In Tbilisi, such walking routes are very common, and it's really cool that you can do it within the city. Almost every weekend or after work we go to the mountains. It's both exercise and an opportunity to see the beauty of the city.

We come to Batumi to relax by the sea. Sometimes we go on excursions. We have been to Kazbegi, Borjomi, Mtskheta and other popular destinations.

I would wish future expats patience, careful crossing of the road, and more travel around the country. Overall, living in Georgia is a great experience, in my opinion. And I am very grateful for it. The amount of sun definitely charges you up.

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