Khatia Tsilosani will be Georgia's Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe

In her address to Parliament, Turnava outlined the NBG’s strategic priorities during the reporting period, emphasizing the Bank’s core mandate: maintaining price stability as a foundation for long-term economic growth. Georgia has followed an inflation-targeting regime since 2018, with a target rate of 3%.“In 2024, inflation remained low and stable, averaging 1.1%, while core inflation—excluding food, energy, and tobacco—stood at 1.6%,” said Turnava. “This low inflation environment was largely driven by domestic factors and effective monetary policy. The stable effective exchange rate of the lari also contributed significantly.”Turnava noted that the NBG reduced the refinancing rate by 1.5 percentage points to 8% in the first half of 2024. However, due to rising global risks in the second half, the Bank adopted a cautious stance, keeping the policy rate unchanged.“This policy supported a resurgence in credit activity, boosting aggregate demand. With rising domestic demand and improved productive capacity, Georgia experienced real GDP growth of 9.4% in 2024,” she said, adding that external demand also contributed positively.International Reserves & FX Market Management The President of the National Bank emphasized the importance of international reserves in maintaining macroeconomic stability. As of December 2024, Georgia’s reserves stood at $4.4 billion.She explained that while favorable conditions in early 2024 allowed the NBG to replenish reserves via FX interventions, the second half of the year saw market volatility and speculative pressures, prompting the NBG to intervene by supplying USD liquidity to stabilize expectations.“Despite short-term pressure, we resumed reserve accumulation by year-end. Total net FX sales in 2024 amounted to $434.75 million. As of May 2025, official reserve assets reached $4.6 billion, fully offsetting last year’s net sales,” Turnava stated.Turnava also addressed the ongoing challenge of financial dollarization, noting progress made due to structural reforms implemented by the NBG.“Loan dollarization decreased to 43.3% from 55.4% in 2019, and deposit dollarization fell to 52.2%, down from 64%. However, dollarization remains a key risk,” she noted. “To address this, we continued implementing our long-term de-dollarization plan, including further reductions in limits on unhedged FX loans, which will be capped at GEL 500,000.”

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As of 01.05.2025, non-performing mortgages in the GEL portfolio amounted to 112 million GEL (L/m -109.4 million). In EUR, it exceeds the equivalent of 37 million GEL (L/m - 35.7 million).At the same time, the problem ratio is still at a low 1.4% in GEL. In USD, it exceeds 2% (1.9%). In EUR, it exceeds - 2.3%.Of the 195 million GEL of overdue mortgages, the USD portfolio accounts for the equivalent of 46.2 million GEL, which is 1.5% less than the previous month and 2.7% less than the previous year (L/m – 45.9 million), 01.05.2024 – 47.5 million).According to the interactive statistics of the Bank of Georgia, as of May (01.05.2025), there are 12.3 billion GEL of mortgage loans in the banks' portfolio. Of which 66.66% are denominated in GEL (L/Y – 62.1%)

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Chatbots and Virtual Assistants; Improving Customer Experience; Personalized Financial Advice; Private Banking; Financial Fraud Detection and Prevention; Credit Assessment. And one each in the nomination “Best Bank in Retail”In corporate and investment services, Bank of Georgia received 4 awards, in the nominations:• Best, Corporate in the Country and Region (Central and Eastern Europe);• Award in the Fintech subcategory, as well as at the country and regional levels.“The use of artificial intelligence is our strategic direction. Through technology, we create a simple, fast and personalized experience for both retail and business customers. These awards are a testament to the tireless work of our team, constant pursuit of innovation and customer-centric approach,” said Mikheil Nadareishvili, Head of the Data Analytics Department at the Bank of Georgia.

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“A campaign of hate and contempt is underway in Georgia, and this phenomenon is not unique to our country. Similar externally funded campaigns are taking place in other nations as well, including Hungary. We are closely monitoring these developments and cannot allow such efforts to be successfully planned or carried out.In Georgia, these campaigns are clearly supported by foreign funding, and we will confront them using all legal means. Hatred and contempt hinder the country’s progress, and we have every right—within the bounds of the law—to resist these artificially imposed narratives. There should be no place for such destructive sentiments in Georgian society,” he added.

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According to the report, the global market rally had the most significant effect on the dynamic portfolio, which saw a monthly return of 2.42%. In comparison, the balanced and conservative portfolios yielded 1.84% and 1.25%, respectively.Portfolio Breakdown by International Equity Allocation: Dynamic Portfolio – 47.9% Balanced Portfolio – 30.3% Conservative Portfolio – 16.3% Since the launch of the dynamic portfolio on August 6, 2023, its annualized return has reached 13%. Over the same period, the balanced and conservative portfolios have posted nominal returns of 12.3% and 11.4%, respectively.As of the end of May 2025, the total assets of the Pension Fund of Georgia amounted to GEL 6.9 billion, with GEL 1.7 billion generated in investment returns.Let me know if you'd like a shorter version for headlines or social media posts.

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The report also notes that 2024’s output surpassed Georgia’s five-year production average by 20%, marking the highest annual wine production since the beginning of the 21st century. The OIV attributes this growth primarily to favorable weather conditions in Georgia’s major wine-producing regions.Vineyard Expansion and Consumption Trends.Georgia had 48,700 hectares of vineyards in 2024, reflecting a modest annual increase of 0.4% and ranking the country 26th globally in vineyard area.Domestic wine consumption also surged by 27%, reaching 119.9 million liters, placing Georgia 29th in the world for wine consumption. The OIV estimates that Georgians aged 15 and older consumed an average of 39.9 liters of wine per person annually, accounting for 0.6% of global wine consumption.While Georgia’s production and consumption rose, global wine consumption declined by 3.3%, dropping to 214 million hectoliters, the lowest level since 1961.Despite domestic success, Georgian wine exports sharply declined in early 2025. According to Geostat, from January to April 2025, Georgia exported 23,946 tons of wine worth $72 million, a 45% decrease from the same period in 2024 ($126.9 million/45,197 tons).Russia, Georgia’s largest export market, saw the most significant drop. Exports to Russia fell by 59.3%, from $99.55 million to $40.45 million.Top 5 Export Markets for Georgian Wine (Jan–Apr 2025): Russia – $40.45 million (14,404 tons) Poland – $6.17 million (2,578 tons) Ukraine – $3.65 million (1,318 tons) China – $3.52 million (1,124 tons) Kazakhstan – $3.67 million (1,063 tons)

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“In accordance with subparagraph “a” of paragraph 1 of Article 52 of the Constitution of Georgia and subparagraph “g” of Article 5 of the Law of Georgia “On the Structure, Powers and Procedures of the Government of Georgia”, the candidacy of Tamar Taliashvili shall be submitted to the President of Georgia for appointment to the position of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the United States of America from July 10, 2025,” reads the document signed by Kobakhidze.Another decree is dated June 9, according to which Irakli Kobakhidze addresses Mikheil Kavelashvili with a proposal regarding the dismissal of Tamar Taliashvili from the position of Permanent Representative of Georgia to the Council of Europe from July 10.According to state media, Taliashvili has already received an agreement from the Trump administration.Who is Tamar Taliashvili? Tamar Taliashvili has been Georgia's Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe since October 2022, having previously resigned from her parliamentary seat, which she won in October 2020 under the Georgian Dream parliamentary list. Tamar Taliashvili (two terms) was a member of the Tbilisi City Council from 2014 to 2020, during which time she chaired the Education and Culture Commission. Taliashvili was nominated for the US Secretary of State's Women in Public Service nomination in 2011. Before entering politics, Tamar Taliashvili worked at various times as a legal assurance program manager for the USAID Fiscal Reform Project and as a legal advisor to the German foundation GIZ.

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“Another change in the Ministry of Internal Affairs concerned the Special Tasks Department - Roman Kartsivadze was appointed to the position of Director of the said department,” the information released by the agency says.Against the backdrop of the pro-European protests that began after November 28, 2024, Zviad Kharazishvili has been in the spotlight several times. Once, when he cursed citizens gathered at the rally with a loudspeaker.Also, employees of the Special Tasks Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have raped participants of the rally and journalists. No one has been punished so far.This fact was followed by the sanctioning of “Khareba” by a number of countries. Among them, he was sanctioned by the US and Great Britain.According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the new Minister of Internal Affairs, Gela Geladze, has a new deputy - Mariam Tabatadze has been appointed to the vacant position, who will head the economic and logistics departments, as well as the LEPL Health Care Service.

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