Hello and welcome to Business Daily with me, Rehan Dimitri. In today's program, our Russian businesses

welcome in Georgia. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has had a knock-on effect on countries like Georgia,

and despite the pessimistic predictions, the country's economy had a double-digit growth in 2022.

Georgia found itself in a very paradoxical economic situation, which it has never experienced before

and probably will never like to experience again.

Since the war, tens of thousands of Russians moved to the small South Caucasus nation.

They brought along their money and their ideas.

So we're going to open school in Georgia and I was like, yes, let's do it.

But what do Georgians, who fought their own war with Russia in 2008, make of a huge growth in trade and economic relations with Russia.

It hurts. It hurts very, very much every single day.

That's all coming up in Business Daily on the BBC World Service Radio.

The President World Service Radio. In May,

dozens of demonstrators gathered at Tbilisi International Airport

to protest the resumption of direct flights with Russia.

Direct flights between the countries came to a halt four years ago

after mass anti-Russia protests in the Georgian capital. But in early May, Russia lifted the ban.

For Georgia's opposition, this was yet another sign of a thawing relationship between the two

countries. Sergoj Cheyidze is from an opposition political party, strategy Agmashenebeli.

Restoration of this direct flights, it means that more influence Russia will have in Georgia,

more economic, more ideological influence.

And all the world, civilized world, tries to sanction Russia,

tries to isolate Russia.

...