ABSTRACT
In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed. The 15 successor states were bequeathed pieces of an almighty penal apparatus. The Soviet Gulag had comprised hundreds of camp complexes, special settlements, colonies, pre-trial and holding facilities as well as prisoner trains that criss-crossed a continent-wide system of punishment. Turning first to the labour market, Georgia’s indicators in the 2000s were much worse than Kazakhstan. Unemployment in Georgia increased, while it dropped dramatically in Kazakhstan. According to Georgian government, which is most likely significantly understated, unemployment increased from 12.6 per cent in 2004 to 16.9 per cent in 2009. Georgia suffered one of the worst collapses of any of the post-Soviet states. It had one of the bloodiest transitions to independence. Two wars broke out with the secessionist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia through 1989–1993 and a low intensity civil war in 1992 and 1993. Industrial output declined by 90 per cent in the first years of independence under Eduard Shevardnadze.
