Georgia’s business community is trying to ramp up pressure on the Georgian Dream government, testing new methods to voice opposition to the country’s political course and highlight how ongoing strife threatens the economy. 

Hundreds of Georgian businesses closed their doors and workers took to the streets on January 15 demanding a fresh parliamentary election and the release of detainees deemed political prisoners. Mobilizing for a three-hour “warning strike,” the protesters blocked traffic and protested in public, but there was little sustained disruption. 

“As we see, the regime is adjusting to every new form of protest, and we have the feeling that we have to invent new forms of protest as well in order to engage more people, to engage the private sector,” Baia Pataraia, a human rights defender and one of the organizers of the strike, told Eurasianet, adding that more than 500 businesses participated in the strike. 

Pataraia said that the idea was born out of fear that Georgia’s economy will stagnate if the country is isolated politically. The European Union and United States have slowly been turning up the heat on the ruling Georgian Dream government, implementing punitive measures, like diplomatic visa restrictions, and suspending aid in response to democratic backsliding. 

Georgia not too long ago received millions in assistance from Western donors every year. But such assistance has begun to dry up as nations seek to punish Georgian Dream leaders for their perceived manipulation of last October’s parliamentary vote, steering the country away from EU integration, and overseeing a violent crackdown on pro-EU protesters. 

“Everyone feels that there is a very heavy political crisis, and we see the beginning of an economic crisis as well,” Pataraia added. 

So far, economic statistics have sustained an image of economic stability. Trade turnover was up in 2024, for instance, something Georgian Dream officials take credit for, and real GDP increased by 9.4 percent year-on-year between January and November. Local media reported that the annual inflation rate in December was 1.9 percent. 

Georgia’s political crisis intensified only toward the end of 2024, however. Thus, it could be a few more quarters before the turmoil is reflected in the economic data. 

A report issued by the World Bank in October estimated that the Georgian economy will grow by more than 5 percent in 2025 and 2026. But such projections and recent positive economic indicators don’t take into account developments since November 28, when Georgian Dream shelved the country’s EU bid, kicking off the current crisis. 

Georgia’s business community has increasingly tried to signal that keeping a regime in power that is trending in an authoritarian direction is bad for the economy. Acting as a prelude to the strike, hundreds of business leaders in December signed a petition demanding new elections. 

Fitch Ratings expressed some worry that the political crisis could destabilize the economy in December when the agency lowered Georgia’s long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating. “A protracted political crisis could undermine the institutional framework and affect investor and domestic confidence, exerting pressure on external liquidity and the exchange rate,” Fitch said in a statement. 

Organizers say the brief strike on January 15 was a test designed to measure the level of interest and the medium-term feasibility of employing such a tactic, which has not been used during recent anti-government protests and was done without the involvement of labor unions. 

“We think that strikes are one way which might be really helpful in solving this political crisis, but we have to learn how to go on strike,” Pataraia said, adding that organizers may plan a larger public walkout in the future. 

The strike attracted the attention of large Georgian companies. One local entrepreneur, the head of a trade and business center in Tbilisi, said that workers from the majority of the center’s offices participated in the walkout. TBC Bank and Bank of Georgia, the two largest banks in the country, both implied that they would not interfere if employees wanted to participate in the walkout. 

“The Bank of Georgia has always protected and will protect the freedom of expression of its employees,” a statement issued by the bank reads. “At the same time, as a financial institution, we will continue to fulfill our responsibility – to provide customers with uninterrupted banking services in any situation.”