Record Car Re-Exports From Georgia Raise Sanctions Evasion Concerns

Executive Summary:

• According to a recent study by the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), re-exports of cars from Georgia are at a historic high, with light vehicles worth $1.2 billion exported in the first six months of 2025.
• Since 2021, car re-exports from Georgia have increased by 493 percent, with the majority going to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, which together account for 81 percent of total car exports ($981 million).
• Experts and watchdog organizations warn that the Georgian government’s claims of enforcing sanctions against Russia do not fully reflect reality, raising concerns about gaps in monitoring and potential circumvention of international rules.

A recent study conducted by one of Georgia’s leading non-governmental organizations (NGO), the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), shows that car re-exports from Georgia are at a record high in the first six months of 2025 (IDFI, July 30). The vehicles are officially destined for Central Asian countries, but the unprecedented growth in re-exports raises concerns that Georgia may be serving as a corridor for sanctioned goods ultimately entering Russia. The Georgian government introduced a ban on the re-export of certain EU-made cars to Russia and Belarus in 2023 to comply with Western sanctions following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine (Civil Georgia, September 26, 2023). The IDFI study, however, suggests that the Georgian government’s claims of enforcing sanctions against Russia do not reflect reality.

In Georgia, when selling a car, the first inquiry frequently comes from a Russian-speaking buyer—often someone who speaks little to no Georgian or English. Their interest intensifies if the car is high-end. These buyers often come from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and they are increasingly present in places like Rustavi, Georgia’s major auto market near the capital Tbilisi (iFact, February 13, 2024).

The record number of car re-exports from Georgia is part of a broader trend shaped by the international sanctions against Russia. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the European Union, alongside the Group of Seven (G7) and other partners, imposed sanctions on the import and export of goods to Russia. Western countries initially banned the export of so-called luxury-class cars valued at over $50,000. Later, sanctions were expanded to include new and used cars with engines larger than 1.9 liters, followed by hybrids, electric vehicles, and other high-capacity cars (European Commission, last updated July 18). Despite these measures, concerns grew that Russia was successfully circumventing sanctions and continuing to import luxury vehicles, with a handful of countries, including Georgia, facing scrutiny for facilitating this process (Kyiv Independent, November 14, 2023; Ukrainska Pravda, April 1, 2024; Meduza, February 27).

Georgian officials claim that Georgia has strictly adhered to international sanctions procedures following their ban on the re-export of certain EU-made cars to Russia and Belarus in September 2023 (Civil Georgia, September 26, 2023). While official statistics show no such exports since 2023, IDFI’s recent study suggests a different reality.

The IDFI report highlights that re-exports of cars from Georgia have reached a historic high. Since 2021, car re-exports from Georgia have increased by 493 percent. In the first six months of 2025, light vehicles worth $1.2 billion were re-exported from the country, accounting for 38 percent of Georgia’s total exports (IDFI, July 30).

Most of these vehicles are re-exported to Central Asia, with the sharpest growth recorded in Kyrgyzstan. In the first half of 2025 alone, exports to Kyrgyzstan exceeded $600 million, while just a few years ago, re-exports to that country barely amounted to a few million dollars. From January to June, the value of exports from Georgia to Kyrgyzstan even surpassed Georgia’s total exports to all EU countries combined (IDFI, July 30).

According to Goga Tushurashvili, head of research at IDFI, this scheme is quite simple because the restrictions are relatively loose (Author’s interview, August 26). This makes it easy to bypass the rules, as re-exports to third countries are perfectly legal under Georgian law and are not considered to be in violation of Western sanctions. As long as Georgia does not sell these cars to Russia or Belarus directly, it is not legally at fault, even if the cars eventually end up in those countries where the purchase of luxury vehicles is prohibited (Meduza, March 28). Tushurashvili stated:

We focused on statistics that raised serious doubts that the cars exported to Central Asian countries were not actually destined for those markets, but in fact for Russia. The data looks highly unnatural. It serves as evidence that something is off, pointing to a sanctions evasion mechanism that emerged after the Russia-Ukraine war (Author’s interview, August 26).

The average value of cars re-exported from Georgia has also roughly tripled in recent years. In 2021, the value of a single exported car was around $7,600. By 2025, it had exceeded $24,000—an indication that higher-value cars are now leaving the country (IDFI, July 30).

The IDFI report also notes that the Georgian government cannot monitor the final destination of vehicles once they are re-exported to countries such as Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan. Tushurashvili explained:

In most cases, the documentation lists the destination country as, for example, Kyrgyzstan or Kazakhstan—places where re-exports are not restricted. However, in reality, these cars remain in Russia. The data supports this: if you compare Georgia’s official export figures with Kyrgyzstan’s import statistics, the latter fall far short. This discrepancy further proves that the cars are not actually reaching those countries but are staying in Russia (Author’s interview, August 26).

Independent journalists’ investigations have also pointed to the same conclusions. In 2024, iFact, a group of investigative reporters, published a seven-month study showing how Georgia continued to act as a corridor for sanctioned automobiles entering Russia (iFact, February 13, 2024). Their findings revealed that luxury cars were still crossing the Georgian-Russian border without difficulty, despite government assurances that it enforces the ban.

Car re-exports have created a lucrative opportunity for many companies in Georgia and for the auto industry as a whole. Companies engaged in re-export have seen their turnover rise significantly. Experts caution, however, that this boom is likely temporary. Having become fully dependent on the Central Asian market, the industry is vulnerable, and if sanctions tighten, it could face significant pressure.