Finance

Over 68% of SME loans are in foreign currency

Including 58% in lending to large businesses and over 68% to SMEs (L/m - 58.2%; 68%).The share of foreign currency-denominated loans in retail does not exceed 21%, although the dollarization ratio increased by 0.1 percentage points in the last reporting month. Total bank lending is 72.7 billion GEL (+2.4%m.m; +15%Y.Y).As the NBG has announced, the next restriction on foreign currency lending (the limit is increasing to GEL 1 million from July 1) should reduce annual issuance by $200 million. The previous increase (the limit was raised to GEL 750,000 from 09/2025) was $150 million, while the previous ones (when the limit was first increased to GEL 400,000 and then to GEL 500,000) were calculated on a decrease of $180,000,000 and $100 million, respectively.The NBG explains that the easing of the reserve requirement on funds attracted in foreign currency (from 25% to 20%), which will free up $250 million of capital for the banking sector, will not affect loans. Potentially, it will be transferred to deposits, but given the high deposit margins, it does not pose a risk of slowing the pace of larization.Moreover, the decision to increase the reserve requirement to 25% was temporary in nature to contain pre-election dollarization and its validity period was already excessively extended.

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Tegeta Holding Places EUR 11 MLN in bonds at record low interest rate

Due to high demand from investors, the company was able to raise 11 million Euros instead of the initially planned 7.5 million Euros. The coupon rate was set at 6.25%, which is the lowest rate for euro-denominated bonds on the Georgian capital market in the last five years. With this move, the company refinanced the securities issued in 2024 and improved the interest rate by 50 basis points.According to Otar Sharikadze, Director of TBC Capital, the higher-than-planned issue confirms high confidence in the company. According to him, Tegeta is one of the most active issuers on the market, with which 11 issues totaling up to 610 million GEL were carried out in partnership.In turn, Ekaterine Kavtaradze, Executive Director of Tegeta Holding, noted that the record-low rate is a recognition of the vision of stable business development. TBC Capital maintains its leading position in the local market with an 84% share this year.

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Banks' problem mortgages have decreased

Annual growth is up to 13% as of Q1/2026. At the beginning of the year, it was up to 12%. For the same period last year, it was up to 11%.The share of problem mortgages in banks' portfolios has decreased, in GEL and USD, respectively, to 1.1% and 1.4%. In EUR, the problem coefficient has decreased to 2.1%.According to the NBG’s statistics, as of Q1/2026, banks' portfolios have 100 million problem mortgages in GEL and 35.8 million GEL equivalent in USD.

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Commercial banks lost GEL 40 MLN through Foreign Exchange Trade

The decrease was noted with 2 systemic banks, BOG/TBC. Almost all banks in the TOP 10 have decreased their profits. There are a few exceptions.Liberty (Q1/2025 - 6.6 million), Basisbank (Q1/2025 - 4.6 million), which already owns Liberty's entire assets, Cartu (Q1/2025 -1.4 million) and Azerbaijani capital, Pasha (Q1/2025 -0.3 million) have increased.

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Foreign exchange reserves reach $6.5 billion

According to the National Bank of Georgia, there is an increase of 154 million in April. The regulator announces net foreign exchange purchases of up to $500 million in Q1/2026, which became possible against the background of a favorable macroeconomic environment.The NBG's April activity and trading volume will be announced on May 25. March saw net sales of $16.2 million. Net purchases in February-January exceeded half a billion dollars.

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Georgia’s Pension Fund Assets Surpass GEL 9 Billion

Pension portfolios showed strong growth in April after a volatile March. The fund said that easing tensions in the Middle East, in particular a ceasefire between the US and Iran, and better-than-expected quarterly results from major technology companies, had a positive impact on investor sentiment.The most profitable portfolio in April was the dynamic portfolio (with a high share of equities), which increased by 5.12%. During the same period, the balanced portfolio increased by 3.79%, and the conservative portfolio - by 2.25%.Since the beginning of the year (YTD), all three portfolios are in the positive range: Dynamic: 6.35% Balanced: 5.35% Conservative: 4.57% “Optimism related to artificial intelligence and the growth of the semiconductor sector had a particular impact on those portfolios with a high share of international equities,” the fund said.According to the fund, the number of participants in the pension scheme reached 1.735 million people. As of April 30, 2026, 31,286 individuals have already benefited from the accumulated pension, to whom a total of GEL 153.2 million has been issued.The total investment income received since the foundation of the fund (since August 2023) is GEL 2.6 billion. During the same period, the annualized return of the dynamic portfolio reached 15%, making it the highest-yielding portfolio.

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Only Lion Finance Group shares are in the plus

Lion Finance Group (BGEO LN) shares closed at GBP 110.30/share (+1.66% w/w and +2.22% m/m). More than 353k shares traded in the range of GBP 105.70 - 117.40/share. Average daily traded volume was 62k in the last 4 weeks. The volume of BGEO shares traded was at 0.82% of its capitalization.TBC Bank Group (TBCG LN) closed the week at GBP 46.62/share (- 2.18% w/w and -0.43% m/m). More than 303k shares changed hands in the range of GBP 45.06 - 48.74/share. Average daily traded volume was 47k in the last 4 weeks. The volume of TBCG shares traded was at 0.54% of its capitalization.Georgia Capital (CGEO LN) shares closed at GBP 38.75/share unchanged w/w and -3.37% m/m). More than 253k shares traded in the range of GBP 37.95 - 39.50/share. Average daily traded volume was 63k in the last 4 weeks. The volume of CGEO shares traded was at 0.74% of its capitalization.

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The unemployment rate in 2025 has not changed – 13.9%

In 2025, the labour force participation rate decreased by 0.3 percentage points compared to the previous year, to 54.5 percent, while the employment rate decreased by 0.2 percentage points, to 46.9 percent. The labour force participation rate in urban settlements decreased by 0.5 percentage points, while in rural settlements it remained unchanged compared to the previous year. The employment rate in urban settlements decreased by 1.2 percentage points, while in rural settlements it increased by 1.1 percentage points, to 47.3 percent and 46.3 percent, respectively.In 2025, the share of employees in total employment was 69.3 percent, which is 0.8 percentage points higher than the previous year.In 2025, the unemployment rate in urban settlements increased by 1.3 percentage points compared to the previous year, while in rural settlements it decreased by 2.1 percentage points.In 2025, compared to the previous year, the unemployment rate decreased the most in RachaLechkhumi and Kvemo-Svaneti, Kvemo Kartli and Guria, by 3.1, 2.9 and 2.0 percentage points, respectively.Traditionally, the unemployment rate is higher for men than for women. In 2025, compared to the previous year, this rate increased by 0.2 percentage points for women, while it decreased by 0.3 percentage points for men.The labour force participation rate is higher for men than for women. In 2025, the rate was 44.2 percent for women and 66.3 percent for men. Compared to the previous year, the labour force participation rate decreased by 0.7 percentage points for women, while it increased by 0.1 percentage points for men.In 2025, the employment rate decreased by 0.7 percentage points for women, while it increased by 0.2 percentage points for men compared to the previous year.In 2025, the highest rate of unemployment was in the age group of 15-19 years (39.0 percent), while this indicator was the lowest in the population aged 65 and over (3.5 percent) due to the low activity of the population in this age group.

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TBC To Pay GEL 1.75 Per Share In 1Q26

Ex-Dividend Date: 13 August 2026 Record Date: 14 August 2026 Currency Conversion Date: 21 August 2026 Payment Date: 11 September 2026 The Georgian Lari to Pound Sterling exchange rate that will apply to the 1Q 2026 quarterly dividend payments on the conversion date of 21 August 2026 will be the average exchange rate of the National Bank of Georgia for the period of 17 August 2026 to and including of 21 August 2026 (5 days average).The Board of Directors of TBC Bank Group PLC ("TBC PLC"), subject to shareholders' approval, is recommending a final dividend for the year 2025 of GEL 3.87 per TBC PLC share (the "Final Dividend"). If approved, the Final Dividend will be paid on 22 June 2026 to shareholders who are on the register of members at 6:00 PM (BST) on the record date of 22 May 2026, in accordance with the following timetable: Ex-Dividend Date: 21 May 2026 Record Date: 22 May 2026 Currency Conversion Date: 5 June 2026 Payment Date: 22 June 2026 The Georgian Lari to Pound S The Final Dividend, together with the aggregate previously paid interim dividends of GEL 5.0 per TBC PLC share (which were paid quarterly), will equate to a total dividend in respect of the year ended 31 December 2025 of GEL 8.87 per share, up by 10% year-on-year. This brings the total dividend payout ratio for 2025 to 35% and total distribution as a share of net profit to 40%, including a buyback of GEL 75 million.The total number of voting rights in TBC PLC as at 28 February 2026 is therefore 55,726,793 (the "Total Voting Rights").

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TBC Uzbekistan posts $8 million profit in 1Q26

The total audience of the ecosystem, which includes TBC Bank in Uzbekistan, payment service payme, installment service TBC BNPL, digital insurance platform TBC Sug'urta and SaaS solution for retail BILLZ, reached 24.2 million registered users as of March 31, 2026 - 23% more than a year ago. The monthly active audience was 5.8 million people.The volume of payments made through the ecosystem platforms increased by 31.1% year-on-year and reached 31.8 trillion soums (≈ $2.62 billion). The deposit portfolio increased by 24.3% to 7.1 trillion soums (≈ $585 million), and the credit portfolio increased by 3.4% to 10.4 trillion soums (≈ $857 million).Among retail products, the dynamics of the flagship debit card TBC Salom deserves special attention:The number of TBC Salom debit cards issued during the quarter exceeded 1 million, which is five times more than the figure of 230 thousand in the same period last year. The balances on these cards make up about 4% of the total deposit portfolio. The TBC Osmon credit card has reached 183 thousand units, and the balances on it account for 9% of the total credit portfolio. The company positions itself as one of the leaders in the emerging credit card market in Uzbekistan, which, according to its estimates, is showing rapid growth along with the spread of the product among consumers.Subscription packages available in TBC Bank and the payment application Payme attracted 1.1 million users, which is seven times more than in the previous year. The installment service TBC BNPL reached 190 thousand active users; the deferred payment function was integrated into the Payme application and Payme travel section, which doubled the sales of reservations and tickets through this channel compared to the first quarter of 2025.TBC is also preparing to launch auto loans in Uzbekistan this year with instant approval in less than a minute. Preliminary partnership agreements have already been signed with a number of manufacturers, dealers and distributors.The business direction TBC Biznes has 67 thousand registered clients, of which 21 thousand are active. The total number of loans issued to small and medium-sized businesses, including the self-employed, exceeded 185 thousand, which is 18% of the total loan portfolio. During the quarter, a new application TBC Biznes was launched, a multi-level subscription service was introduced to the market, and the maximum loan amount for entrepreneurs was increased to 600 million soums (≈ $49.4 thousand).SaaS platform BILLZ processed more than 11 million transactions in the first quarter, with a total volume of 5.8 trillion soums (≈ $478 million). By the end of March, the number of its users amounted to more than 4 thousand registered business clients, and the network of active merchants exceeded 6 thousand. To cover micro and small businesses, it launched BILLZ lite, a simplified mobile version of the platform.In the technological sphere, the company completed the implementation of the AI-assistant Lola for the entire user base, after successful testing in the Friends & Family mode at the end of 2025. In April 2026, the assistant was awarded by Global Finance as the best fintech innovation in the Asia-Pacific region. Other technological innovations of the quarter included the integration of QR-payments in TBC Bank using MSQR and CSQR formats, as well as the integration of payme into the bank’s partner network, which opened up access to more than 20 thousand merchants for TBC Bank customers.“The past quarter was marked by significant achievements that lay the foundation for a new stage of further growth and development of our ecosystem as the region’s leading unified platform for consumers and entrepreneurs,” said Nika Kurdiani, CEO of TBC Uzbekistan. According to him, the flagship card products are rapidly growing their audience, the business direction is already yielding visible results, and the AI-assistant Lola will in the future turn into a full-fledged personal assistant that will connect corporate and retail clients into a single ecosystem.

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Tegeta Holding Places EUR 11 MLN in bonds at record low interest rate

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Politics

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Georgia elects New Catholicos-Patriarch today

Some 1,200 delegates are expected to attend the ecclesiastical assembly. The session will include addresses by candidates for the Patriarchal throne, as well as speeches from delegates representing various eparchies. A scholar will also deliver a historical overview relating to the title of Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia.The Georgian Public Broadcaster’s First Channel will partially broadcast the expanded Church council. Specifically, the opening of the assembly, as well as the voting process, will be aired live; the proceedings will be suspended during the counting of votes, and the final result will be announced on air. The chairman of the vote-counting commission, Metropolitan Anania (Japaridze), will announce the outcome of the ballot.Only bishops are entitled to participate in the vote to elect the Catholicos-Patriarch. The candidate who receives more than half of the votes cast by the participating bishops, in this instance, 20 votes, shall be deemed elected as Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia.The candidates for Catholicos-Patriarch are: the locum tenens of the Patriarchal throne, Metropolitan Shio of Senaki and Chkhorotsku (Mujiri); Metropolitan Iobi of Mroveli-Urbnisi (Akiashvili); and Metropolitan Grigoli of Poti and Khobi (Berbichashvili).Georgia’s 141st Catholicos-Patriarch, Ilia II, passed away on March 17 at the age of 93.

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Papuashvili accuses EU ambassador of “political revenge” and interfere...

In a speech on Europe Day, Papuashvili said that the EU has departed from its founding principles and has moved into a regime of “politically motivated resolutions and threats of economic retaliation.”According to Papuashvili, the current EU leadership fails to understand the essence of the Schuman Declaration and, instead of peace, is promoting radicalism and “regime change” plans against the democratically elected government in Georgia.He stressed that separating Europe Day from Victory Day (May 9) is unacceptable, as it ignores the great sacrifice made by the Georgian people in World War II.In the letter, the speaker also drew attention to the ideological conflict, saying that the EU is trying to impose on the country “ideologies incompatible with the traditional way of life and human nature.”He said that European integration should not mean Brussels’ “sole rule” over Georgia, but should be based on equality and respect for national independence.Papuashvili defended Tbilisi’s position on non-interference in the economic confrontation with Russia, noting that calls for sanctions without security guarantees would lead to Georgia’s economic collapse. In conclusion, the Speaker of the Parliament called on the European Union to stop aggressive rhetoric and reconsider its "harmful policies" in order to pave the way for genuine dialogue.

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Georgian government to create specialized state academy to train diplo...

According to the head of government, the decision is due to the fact that existing state and private universities cannot provide the necessary knowledge and skills for future diplomats at the appropriate level.Key details: Status and subordination: The Academy of Diplomacy will be an institution of departmental subordination. The prime minister cited the academies of the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Security Service, which operate on a similar model, as examples. Objective: The main task of the institution is to train highly qualified personnel for the diplomatic service and strengthen the country's foreign policy positions. Timeline: The academy will begin operating next year, after passing authorization procedures. “Departmental subordination will help the academy ensure high quality teaching and research,” Kobakhidze said, thanking Foreign Minister Maka Bochorishvili for preparing the project.This step is another attempt by the ruling team to strengthen state institutions, aiming to centralize the training of professional staff by tailoring it to the needs of specific state agencies.

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Kobakhidze: Number of registered wineries in Georgia has increased to...

The head of government highlighted the doubling of export geography over the past decade and noted that Georgian products are currently represented in 70 countries around the world.Key economic indicators: Export volume: In 2025, Georgia exported up to 90 million liters of wine Revenues: The value of exported products reached 268 million US dollars. According to the Prime Minister, this growth dynamics will be maintained in 2026 Industry expansion: The number of wineries and companies registered in the country has increased almost 30 times, reaching 3,000 According to Kobakhidze, as a result of state policy, a special growth is being recorded in the part of small and family wineries, which has contributed to the creation of new jobs in the regions.“Our goal is for the world to know Georgian wine as a premium-class product that continues an 8,000-year tradition with constant development,” the Prime Minister said.According to his own assessment, diversification of markets and continuous improvement of quality remain part of the strategy that should ensure international recognition and economic strength of Georgian wine.

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Council of Europe calls on Russia to withdraw troops from Georgian ter...

According to a statement released by the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the decision was taken within the framework of the issue - “The Council of Europe and the conflict in Georgia”. In the document, the 46 member states of the organization reaffirm their firm support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognized borders.The Committee of Ministers emphasizes that the Russian Federation continues to violate international obligations, including the ceasefire agreement of 12 August 2008, signed with the mediation of the European Union. According to the document, Moscow continues its illegal military presence in the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali.In the decision, the member states recall the historic Reykjavik Summit of May 2023 and call on Russia to immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw its armed forces from the territory of Georgia. The resolution is another legal confirmation of the Council of Europe's policy of non-recognition of Georgia's occupied regions and support for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.