Main Findings

-The re-export of vehicles from Georgia is at an all-time high. In the first half of the year, light vehicles of the total value of 1.2 billion were re-exported from the country, 38% of the total exports from Georgia;

-Since 2021, vehicle re-exports from Georgia have grown by 493%;

-Vehicles are mainly re-exported from Georgia to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan - the share of both countries in the total export is 81% (981 million dollars);

- In January-June, the value of goods re-exported to Kyrgyzstan (681 million USD, including light vehicles worth 628.2 million) was almost twice the value of re-exports to the entirety of the European Union countries (372.7 million USD);

-2,464 subjects, of which 90% were individual entrepreneurs, conducted vehicle re-exports from Georgia in January-April 2025;

-The average value of the vehicles re-exported from Georgia in recent years has almost tripled. While in 2021 the value of each re-exported vehicle was 7,600 USD on average, in 2024 this figure has exceeded 24,000 USD, indicating that the vehicles being re-exported belong to the high-cost category;

-The record growth of vehicles re-exported to Central Asian countries may be an indication that sanctioned goods are being imported to Russia through the Georgian corridor.

In recent years, the primary driver of the growth in Georgia’s export figures was the re-export of vehicles. Vehicle re-exports began to increase sharply in 2022. While in 2021 light vehicles of a total value of 456.5 million USD were re-exported from the country, in 2024 this figure exceeded 2 billion USD and comprised 37% of total exports. As a comparison, in 2021 light vehicle re-exports comprised only 10% of the total exports from the country. The trend continued in 2025 as well, with 1.2 billion USD worth of vehicles re-exported in the first 6 months of the year, a record figure in recent years.

Source: GeoStat

Source: GeoStat

Source: GeoStat

Central Asia is the main destination of vehicle re-exports from Georgia. The largest increase was seen in re-exports to Kyrgyzstan, with 600 million USD worth of goods re-exported to the country from Georgia in the first 6 months of 2025 alone. Meanwhile, in previous years, the value of vehicle re-exports to Georgia did not exceed several million dollars. For example, as compared to 2021, the growth is 12,828% (129 times more). In January-June, the value of goods re-exported to Kyrgyzstan was more than the value of re-exports to the entirety of the European Union countries

In particular, while re-exports to Kyrgyzstan amounted to 681.3 million dollars (of which 628.2 million dollars were vehicle re-exports), the re-exports to the EU totaled 372.7 million dollars. It should be noted that Kyrgyzstan, which has a population of 7.2 million, is one of the least developed countries in the world, with a GDP of 2,400 USD per capita, while the world average is 13,000 dollars per capita. Despite this fact, in the first 6 months of the current year alone, 19,663 vehicles were re-exported from Georgia to Kyrgyzstan, with the average value of each at 32,000 dollars. This means that the vehicles re-exported to Kyrgyzstan fall largely in the high-cost category. Second in terms of vehicle re-exports is Kazakhstan. In the first 6 months of 2025, vehicles worth 353.2 million dollars were re-exported there. In the first 6 months of 2021, this figure amounted to only 5.4 million dollars. In total, 20,215 vehicles were transferred to Kazakhstan through the Georgian corridor in the first 6 months of 2025. The average value of the vehicles was lower than those re-exported to Kyrgyzstan, at 17,473 dollars.

Armenia is in the top 5 of vehicle re-export destinations. Re-exports to Armenia peaked in 2023 and started to decline afterwards. Specifically, in the first 6 months of 2025, vehicles of a total value of 25.6 million dollars were re-exported to Armenia, while in 2023 this figure stood at 184.8 million dollars, and in 2021 - 2 million dollars.

Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are also in the top 10 of re-export destination countries. These are also countries in Central Asia with low development. Vehicle re-exports from Georgia to these countries have risen 700-900% in the past 5 years.

Source: GeoStat

The overall export figure of the country has been increasing in parallel with the record growth of vehicle exports. Central Asian countries, which are the main destinations of vehicle re-exports, lead in terms of destinations in overall exports as well. Were it not for the record growth in vehicle re-export figures, the exports from Georgia in the first 6 months would have increased by 5.6% instead of 13.7%.

Source: GeoStat

Against the backdrop of the wide-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the imposition of sanctions on the latter, doubts arose on whether Russia would use countries in Central Asia to import sanctioned goods to its territory. This was precisely the period when the sharp increase in exports from Georgia to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan began. According to the sanctions imposed by the EU and the US on Russia, direct re-export to Russia of vehicles imported to Georgia from EU states and America is prohibited. The sanctions imposed by the West gradually became stricter. At the initial stage, export of vehicles of the so-called luxury class—valued over 50,000 dollars—was prohibited. On the second stage, new and used vehicles with engine capacity in excess of 1.9 litres were added to the list of sanctioned goods, while at the next stage, hybrid, electric, and high-engine capacity vehicles were added to the list.

In parallel with the sanctions, Georgia also prohibited direct re-export of vehicles to Russia and Belarus in 2023. In May 2025, it was revealed that the prohibition applies to the citizens of these countries as well.

Despite the fact that, according to official data, direct re-export of vehicles from the US and EU to Russia does not take place, the sharp and unnatural growth of exports to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan raise questions on whether the Georgian corridor is being used to ensure that sanctioned cargo reaches Russia.

Independent media often speaks on the fact that vehicles still enter Russia, bypassing sanctions. In this context, it is often mentioned that vehicles from the US and the EU often end up in Russia through Georgia. Such cases have also been confirmed by Georgian investigative journalists. Specific tactics are further accompanied by the fact that the data from the National Statistics Office of Georgia do not align with official data from Kyrgyzstan.

Source: GeoStat

It should also be noted that the average value of each vehicle has been increasing alongside the growth in vehicle exports. While the average value in 2021 was 7,600 dollars, in 2025 this figure exceeded 24,000 dollars. This means that higher-cost vehicles are being re-exported from the country now.

Source: GeoStat

According to the information provided to IDFI by the National Statistics Office, in the first four months of 2025, a total of 2464 subjects re-exported vehicles, over 90% of which were individual entrepreneurs. The majority of re-exporters were Georgian citizens, with only up to 100 subjects with the participation of foreign citizens. It should also be noted that the official area of activity of a part of the individual entrepreneurs is not vehicle sales. Among the re-exporters, vehicle sales was stated as the official occupation only in the case of about 1000 individual entrepreneurs and companies.

Source: GeoStat

IDFI requested information from the National Statistics Office on the 10 largest companies that re-exported the highest volume in the first quarter of 2025. Geostat, however, only issues a list of companies that is not organized by rating and does not provide information on the share in re-exports of these top ten companies in total exports.

In the first quarter of 2025, the 10 largest vehicle exporters were:

ბი თუ ბი LLC

Garage Shop LLC

Global Auto Import LLC

თბ ექს LLC

Caucasus Automotors LLC

Caucasus Auto Import LLC

Caromoto.ge LLC

Toyota Caucasia LLC

Carexpress LLC

INDIGO CARS GE LLC

The top 10 largest exporters list does not contain any individual entrepreneurs, and some companies on the list are some of the largest companies operating on the Georgian market. These companies represent the largest share of re-exports. Among them, specific companies have existing representatives and subsidiary companies in Central Asian countries. The list also includes a company founded with the participation of a Kazakh citizen. Nevertheless, the full scope of the exports to Central Asia by these companies is unclear. In addition, some of the large companies (e.g. Caucasus Auto Import) have not made their financial statements public, which makes it difficult to determine the markets where the company operates.

Among the top 10 largest exporter companies are also those that were registered only last year, for example INDIGO CARS GE LLC, which was registered in May 2024, and Caromoto.ge, which was registered in April 2024. The founders and 50-50% shareholders of Caramoto are Georgian and Kazakh citizens. According to the website of the company, it mainly purchases vehicles on auctions in the US. INDIGO CARS, meanwhile, is an international logistics company that works primarily on importing vehicles from America.

The list contains the largest Georgian vehicle importer Caucasus Auto Import, which gives individuals and dealers access to the US auto market. According to the information on the company’s website, the company has offices in Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, United Arab Emirates, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. It should be noted that the company’s financial statements are not public and it has only one report from 2017 on the accounting and reporting platform. Therefore, despite it having representation in both Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, it is not possible to determine the volume of vehicles sold on these markets by the company.

The list also contains two of the largest companies in the country - “Tegeta” and “Toyota Caucasus”. Toyota Caucasus indicates in its report that it sells goods only in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. As for Tegeta, which is represented in the list through its subsidiary Caucasus Automotors, according to the company’s report, it has several subsidiaries in Central Asian countries (“Tegeta Motors Kazakhstan”, “Tegeta Motors Dushanbe”, “Tegeta Motors Bishkek”), although only one, “Tegeta Motors Central Asia LLC”, has an active status. The subsidiary sells spare parts. The financial statements of the companies do not indicate the markets where the goods are sold. The revenues of both companies have seen a significant increase in recent years. Specifically, while Toyota’s revenue in 2022 stood at 388.4 million dollars, by 2023 it had grown to 645.1 million dollars. According to the company’s 2023 report, Toyota Caucasus made profit from selling vehicle and vehicle parts in Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia; specifically, 331.7 million dollars from contracts in Azerbaijan, 253 million dollars in Georgia, and 60.3 million in Armenia. Tegeta’s revenues also increased substantially, reaching 1.6 billion lari in 2024, when in 2022, for example, the revenue was 950 million lari. The company's major buyers include both retail and corporate clients, as well as the state, as the company is a frequent winner of public tenders - the total value of the contracts won reaches 500 million GEL.

Conclusion

Vehicles re-exports from Georgia are at an all-time high. Since the start of Russia's large-scale war in Ukraine, re-exports have been increasing mainly to countries in Central Asia, even though historically vehicles re-exports to these countries have been minimal.

The circumstances cited in the study, which are related to the radical increase in demand for luxury cars by specific countries with developing economies, as well as the facts revealed by various international and local media, may indicate that the final destination of cars transported through the Georgian corridor is not the countries of Central Asia, but instead Russia.

Local legislation prohibits direct re-export of cars to Russia and Belarus, and official statistics show that no cases of export have been recorded since 2023, although the final destination of cargo exported from Georgia to, for example, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan cannot be controlled at the state level. The growing statistics do not rule out the imposition of additional sanctions by the West on these countries, such as a ban on imports, which will naturally have a significant impact on the sector of Georgian car importers dependent on these markets. On the other hand, the facts that show that cars are supplied to Central Asian countries from Georgia cause significant reputational damage to the country, with Georgia perceived as a corridor for sanctioned cargo traveling to Russia.