Georgia’s foreign trade saw a significant rise in January 2025, with total turnover surging by 39.3% compared to the same period in 2024. Exports climbed 19.3% to $403.9mn, while imports soared 45.5% to $1.604bn, according to preliminary data from the National Statistics Office.

However, the sharpest increase was recorded in the import of paintings, with $480.7mn worth of artworks entering the country — an amount nearly matching the entire month’s trade expansion.

The surge in art imports has sparked controversy according to Jam News, with many politicians and analysts attributing it to Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgia’s unofficial ruler, who remains under US and UK sanctions.

The paintings, weighing over six tonnes, reportedly originated from countries that have sanctioned him. Critics argue that the offshore tax exemption law, passed by the Georgian parliament in May 2024, facilitated the transfer, allowing Ivanishvili to avoid paying VAT, property and other taxes that could have contributed between $300mn and $400mn to state revenue.

According to Giorgi Bachiashvili, former head of Ivanishvili’s Co-Investment Fund, the declared value of the paintings significantly understates their real worth, estimating the collection at over $1bn. Economist Roman Gotsiridze has suggested that this tax scheme alone deprived Georgia’s budget of at least $86mn in unpaid taxes, and potentially up to $180mn based on Bloomberg’s valuation.

The offshore tax exemption law, fast-tracked by parliament despite objections from then president Salome Zourabichvili, exempts assets transferred from offshore entities from corporate and income taxes, import duties, and property taxes until 2030. While Georgian Dream officials claim the law does not specifically benefit Ivanishvili, opposition voices insist it was designed to protect his wealth and consolidate his financial influence.

Tamta Mikeladze, director of the Centre for Social Justice, has criticised the law for enabling tax-free capital flow for the country’s wealthiest individuals while ordinary citizens remain subject to the same tax rate. “The promise that these tax changes would drive economic growth was a deception. One-time capital inflows do not create sustainable industry or development,” she said to Jam News.

Speculation is also mounting over where Ivanishvili intends to store the imported artworks. “Not at home, of course — that’s out of the question,” said Gotsiridze. “Securing such a collection would require an entire army. The only logical place is the National Bank’s vault, where Georgia’s seven tonnes of gold bars are kept.” Whether the National Bank would accommodate such a request remains unclear, but opposition figures argue that it would be legally dubious.

The Georgian government’s decision to grant sweeping tax exemptions to offshore assets has drawn international scrutiny, particularly as the country navigates its geopolitical position between the West and Russia. The controversy surrounding Ivanishvili’s art imports has only reinforced concerns that Georgia’s financial and political systems are being restructured to serve the interests of a single individual.