Faces of Migration - Nikolay, 35-year-old Russian brewery owner in Batumi

Nikolay came to Georgia 5 years ago with his fiancée Magda to get married in Alaverdi, like Magda’s Georgian father and Russian mother did. Couple travelled around Georgia during their honeymoon and Batumi was one of the destinations. Nikolay says, he was impressed after wandering in the city and it made him think about potentially moving to Georgia. “I told Magda that Batumi was not a place to visit, it was a place to live”, remembers Nikolay.

Nikolay and Magda moved to Batumi in 2016, where their first son – Maximus was born in 2017. Same year, Nikolay opened a brewery “Maximus” named after his son. COVID-19 pandemic affected its establishment on the market and production distribution, but Nikolay managed to open a market chain “Zgva Ludi” and manages to distribute his beer in Tbilisi, Rustavi, Kutaisi and Zestafoni.

In addition to the brewery, Nikolay also established martial arts studio “Maximus” that is free of charge for children from socially vulnerable families. In total, “Maximus” has around 100 employees, but Nikolay does not plan to stop and plans to create a larger enterprise with 1,000 employees including brewery construction, tourism, and other business fields. Nikolay says, it’s much easier to establish a business in Georgia, than in Russia as he faces less bureaucracy.

Nikolay, Magda and their three sons – Maximus (age 4), Alex (age 2) and Marcus (age - 3 months) live happily in Batumi and do not plan to move any time soon. Nikolay even applied for Georgian citizenship but was rejected as he does not speak Georgian. Nikolay has never experienced difficulties when communicating with locals, as Batumi is quite comfortable for Russian speakers.
 

Photo by Eric Gourlan