Georgians’ fascination with cars is only surpassed by their ardor for vanity car plates. The South-Caucasus country may be strapped for cash, but it turns its pockets inside out to get the right car and personalized plates to go with it. As of early this month, Georgian car owners had paid a good 8,9 million lari ($5.6 million) over the past month and a half for some 30,000 car plates, Peradi.info reported, citing police records.
And all this in a country where the average monthly salary amounts to just over 773 laris, or $442, according to official data.
But, apparently, those low incomes didn’t stop these drivers. The most hardcore paid 10,000 laris ($5,718.53) to adorn their vehicles with their full names or some slogan. Less fancy plates that have repeated numbers and letters — such as 111 - AA - 111 — cost about 1,000 laris or $570, BHN reported. If you are a Georgian girl called Rusa, for about 250 laris ( $142), you can get a RU - 000 - SA plate.
By comparison, ordinary license plates cost 35 laris ($20). But, of course, who notices those?
After the government recently changed the format of the plates, drivers now have all kinds of messages to tell the rest of the traffic, too: Amen, Drunkard, Kisses. Several years back, one Georgian government-minister got himself MCCAIN plates in honour of his favorite US senator, Republican John McCain of Arizona, wrote Foreign Affairs.
Some local observers believe that Georgians opt for expensive cars and plates to create an impression that someone of consequence is making their way through the increasingly intense traffic in the capital, Tbilisi. And it does not matter if the price for that is incongruously high compared to personal income.
As one joke in the “You are Georgian if . . .” series goes, you are Georgian if you have the latest BMW model, but borrow money for gas.
Giorgi Lomsadze is a journalist based in Tbilisi, and author of Tamada Tales.
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