TBILISI. Feb 21 (Interfax) - The Georgian opposition claiming that for the past year the country's border with Russia had been crossed by nearly 1.5 millions of Russians, many of whom stayed, are wrong, Georgian Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri said.
"For the past year, from February 2022 to February 2023 our border has been crossed by 1,400,000 Russian and Belarusian citizens, but of this number only 869,000 entered Georgia, the rest were transit border-crossings and so-called taxi drivers who cross the border several times a day," Gomelauri told the national parliament on Tuesday.
Of the 869,000 Russians and Belarusians, 809,000 have returned, he said.
"I can't agree that last year saw a big increase in the flow of Russian and Belarusian tourists to Georgia. Before the pandemic, our country was each year visited by 300,000 more tourists from Russia and Belarus. This is the statistic," Gomelauri said.
He also denied that Russian and Belarusian citizens had committed many crimes in Georgia over the past year.
"Of all crimes committed since February last year, just 0.5% were by Russian and Belarusian citizens. Russian citizens in Georgia committed 246 crimes, 74 of which led to a criminal inquiry and criminal proceedings against 16 Belarusian citizens, accordingly. So, I don't see any rise in crime in this respect," Gomelauri said.