Europe’s eastern sphere of influence is a collection of five countries that once were firmly integrated in Russia’s orbit (Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, Armenia and Azerbaijan).

The FINANCIAL -- Currently, farming in Georgia is a “by default activity” – the vast majority of Georgian “farmers” are not really farmers in a professional sense but rather people who try to survive by growing agricultural products. When traveling through Georgia’s countryside, one sees immediately that it is mainly the older generation which has to resort to this default activity. Those who have more profitable opportunities leave for the cities, and these are almost exclusively young people. 

The FINANCIAL -- ISET’s Khachapuri Index kept declining in April, very much in line with the multi-year seasonal trend (see chart).  The average cost of cooking one standard Imeretian Khachapuri currently stands at 2.96 GEL, which is 3.2% lower month-on-month (m/m, that is compared to March 2015), and 11.4% lower year-on-year (y/y, that is compared to April 2014).

The Eastern Partnership is a culturally diverse grouping of five states that have found themselves locked in a contest between European and Russian influence. Given the EaP initiative’s political nature, divisions within these countries are often framed as simply pro-Russian vs. pro-European, which are often viewed as culturally uniform and distinct from each other.

The FINANCIAL -- Rashmi Shankar, is the World Bank’s Lead Economist for the South Caucasus, and Sector Leader for the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network in the Europe and Central Asia Region. She supervises a program that spans governance and public sector management, poverty and gender, and economic policy.