The Other Georgia: 4 Things I Want You To Know About My Homeland

Forbes

a day ago

Georgia's economy is diversifying. Tourism is booming. Winemakers are exporting globally. Tech, logistics, and education are expanding. And young people are stepping into leadership roles that would have seemed impossible a generation ago.
When I tell people I'm from Georgia, they might picture peaches and southern charm. But that's not my Georgia.
As CFO of CBS Group, a holding company working across various industries to help build a stronger, more modern society in my homeland, I represent Georgia worldwide—in boardrooms, conferences, and global summits. Yet I often find myself explaining the most basic facts about my origins.
So today, I want to share four things I wish everyone knew about the Georgia I call home.
Nearly 6,300 miles east of the U.S., the country of Georgia sits at the intersection of Europe and Asia, covering an area slightly smaller than South Carolina, with a population of 3.7 million people. It's a land of dramatic mountains, seaside resorts, and cities that have stood for thousands of years. Because we're located on the Silk Road—the ancient trade route that linked China to the Mediterranean—Georgia emerged as a crossroads of commerce and culture before Western civilization even existed. People from across the globe passed through, leaving a profound, multicultural legacy you can see in our food, language, and architecture.
Georgia is a truly ancient society. We're one of the oldest wine-producing nations in the world, with a tradition dating back over 8,000 years. Over the centuries, we've seen kingdoms rise and fall, survived invasions, and been shaped by Persian, Ottoman, Russian, and European influences. And through it all, we've kept our language and our identity.
For most of the 20th century, we were part of the Soviet Union, which initially brought industrial development, education, and economic growth. But it also brought totalitarianism and a loss of freedom, so in the late 1980s, when inflation soared and shelves emptied, nationalism swept through our part of the world, and the USSR started to unravel. Things came to a head in Georgia on April 9, 1989, when Soviet troops attacked a peaceful protest in Tbilisi and killed 21 people, mostly young, mostly women. That day galvanized the nation and marked the dawn of a new Georgia. Two years later, we declared our independence, becoming the first non-Baltic republic to leave the USSR.
So in a way, my very ancient country is two years younger than I am.
When a government falls, it takes essential things down with it—institutions like banks, courts, utilities, and more that people rely on to live their lives. When the Soviet Union fell, Georgia lost all of those systems. Our economy collapsed overnight. Wages bottomed out while prices skyrocketed. People were given coupons that they traded for basic food like bread and milk, often standing in line all day to get it. Georgia fell into chaos. Civil war broke out. Armed gangs roamed the streets.
Many people, especially educated people, left the country in search of stability. But my parents, both doctors, stayed behind. I remember candles during power outages, food shortages, and the fear of never knowing what might happen next. But they both believed in the future of Georgia, and today, I'm proud to carry that belief too.
The Georgia I help lead today is not the Georgia I grew up in. We've come through war, economic collapse, and political upheaval, and emerged with a renewed sense of purpose. Our economy is diversifying. Tourism is booming. Our winemakers are exporting globally. Tech, logistics, and education are expanding. And young people are stepping into leadership roles that would have seemed impossible a generation ago.
Yes, we are still pulled between East and West—between two different ideas of governance and power. That tension is real, but so is our determination. Regardless of politics, most Georgians want a country that offers fairness, opportunity, and freedom for all.
I travel the world for work, but my heart is always here. I am part of the generation building Georgia's future—honoring our past without being limited by it.
This is the Georgia I want you to know. Not just the name, but the story.