Import dynamics and pricesAccording to Galt & Taggart’s electricity market review, the total value of imports increased by 30.9% in March to $5.9 million. In terms of volume, Russia was still the largest supplier, however, as Russian imports mainly included preferential supplies intended for the Abkhazian region, it took only second place in terms of value.The increase in Turkey’s share of commercial imports was driven by competitive pricing compared to Azerbaijan. In March, the average price of electricity imported from Turkey was 4.6 US cents per kWh, while the cost of Azerbaijani energy was 6 US cents.According to analysts, Turkey’s re-establishment among the main suppliers indicates a gradual change in the geography of imports, which is due to a combination of price and technical factors.Balancing marketIn March, the average price of balancing electricity decreased by 5.7% year-on-year and amounted to 5.7 US cents per kWh. At the same time, the balancing volume increased by 14.8% (0.4 TWh), which amounted to more than a third (33.4%) of the country’s total supply.

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Repressive Legislation and Police ImpunityThe annual report “The State of Human Rights in the World” states that peaceful protesters, journalists and opposition figures in Georgia were subjected to “arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment” in 2024.The organization assessed that the police systematically used unlawful force, including tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons, injuring hundreds of people.According to the report, the authorities used legislative changes to intensify the repression, including large fines for blocking the road or wearing masks. Amnesty International emphasizes that despite the facts of violence, no police officers were held accountable.The judicial system and political persecutionThe document describes in detail “unfair trials”, where defendants were denied bail without evidence. The report cites specific cases, including the cases of journalist Mzia Amaglobeli and activists Saba Skhvitaridze, Omar Okribelashvili and Saba Meparishvili, who were sentenced to prison on politically motivated charges.In addition, the organization draws attention to the law “On Transparency of Foreign Influence”, on the basis of which the authorities froze the accounts of independent NGOs and began to persecute their leaders. In October, the ruling party even filed a constitutional lawsuit demanding the banning of three leading opposition associations.Gender-based violence and harassmentAmnesty International is particularly concerned about the gender-based violence against female protesters. The report mentions the cases of opposition leader Elene Khoshtaria and activist Kristina Botkoveli, who were subjected to degrading treatment and forced undressing during detention.According to the organization, the “cleansing” of state institutions in Georgia has affected all spheres, and law enforcement and oversight bodies have become “instruments of political revenge” in the hands of the ruling team.The Georgian government has yet to officially comment on this Amnesty International report.

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March figures and import dependenceIn March, domestic consumption increased by 4.3% to 1.3 TWh. The growth was mainly driven by the retail sector (+8.7% y/y) and the Abkhaz region (+9.4% y/y). At the same time, an 11% decrease was recorded in the direct consumer category, which was caused by a decrease in demand from data processing companies.Due to hydrological conditions, hydropower generation in March decreased by 8.6% year-on-year. This is despite the fact that the output of Enguri-Vardnili increased by 49% (the latter was largely due to the effect of the low base last year). As a result, the combined share of thermal generation and imports increased from 34% (March 2025) to 42% (March 2026), indicating the growing import dependence of the system.Alternative energy and import competitionDespite the gradual addition of new capacities, the share of wind and solar plants in total supply is still small and amounted to only 1.2% in March. It is worth noting that the “Upper Wind Station” (18.7 MW) was launched in test mode in March.The investment bank’s review highlights Turkey’s re-emergence among the top importers, indicating increased competition and structural changes in the market. The choice between imports and thermal generation was determined by price: Gardabani 1: 4.3 US cents/kWh Import from Turkey: 4.6 US cents/kWh Gardabani 2: 5.5 US cents/kWh Import from Azerbaijan: 6.0 US cents/kWh G-Power / Mtkvari Energy: 6.2 – 6.4 US cents/kWh Due to the high tariff, G-Power and Mtkvari Energy were operating only at limited capacity, due to technical needs. In total, more than half (51.2%) of consumption in the first quarter was again met by heat generation and imports.

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According to the bank, transactions in any currency on international platforms have become profitable for Silk users.Silk Bank card (debit) purchases are returned 1% (Apple Pay) and 0.5% (Google Pay).According to TBC and the Bank of Georgia, TBC, Bank of Georgia and Liberty have imposed a commission on payments in GEL (GEL) with a debit card in international channels (from April 15).Liberty's new owner, Basisbank, is not increasing the commission for Basis's clients, but it is not canceling Liberty's customers either.As you know, the Chinese Hualing Group acquired Liberty's assets with a secured loan (according to widespread information, TBC credited it). However, the merger process has not yet begun.When paying with a debit card through international e-commerce or/at a POS terminal, a 1.5% commission applies only to GEL (max: GEL 10). When choosing a foreign currency for payment (USD, EUR, GBP ...), the commission is 0%. The change applies to the most popular sites (Pinduoduo; Temu; Shein ...), including WizzAirIn the case of a refund, the commission is not refundable.

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In 1Q26, the share of the EU countries in the revenue from international travel was determined by 17% and amounted to $140.7 million - an increase of 36.4% compared to the same period of the previous year.According to the NBG’s statistics, revenues from Turkey and Ukraine increased by 12.2% and 34.2% annually and, respectively, amounted to $120.1 and $45.3 million. Amid the war in the Middle East, travel revenues from Israel have decreased by 13.4% year-on-year to $98.9 million.Revenues from Russia are characterized by a downward trend - in 1Q26, travel revenues from Russia to Georgia decreased by 12.3%.Georgia's travel revenues by country in 1Q26 are distributed as follows:

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To accelerate the growth of unsecured consumer lending, we renewed the end-to-end digital journey across all unsecured products, reducing time-to-cash from 5 minutes to less than 2 minutes and cutting drop-off rates from 7% to 4%.In addition, for FCLs, we introduced dynamic credit limits, which automatically update customers’ available limits based on their latest profiles, which resulted in generating on average GEL 13 million in incremental disbursements per month. We also implemented an NPV-based loan pricing model, ensuring more disciplined pricing decisions and optimised risk-adjusted returns. As a result, the share of FCLs, our major product in this category, issued digitally increased by 2pp and reached 70% by the end of the year.TBC also fully digitalised its credit card offering in 4Q 2025, which had previously been available exclusively through physical channels. Consequently, the digitalisation rate of credit cards reached 42% by the end of the year. At the same time, the digitalisation rate for buy now, pay later (BNPL) and Installments products stood at 95%. The demand for BNPL/Installments increased by 96% year-on-year, accounting for almost 50% of all digital loan applications on the market, becoming a powerful customer acquisition tool.Overall, our unsecured-lending customer base grew by 9% in 2025, amounting to 465,000 customers with 83% of all loans issued digitally.As part of its multi-licence strategy, TBC Uzbekistan also advanced its microfinance capabilities. TBC Credit received its microfinance licence earlier in 2025, completed the development of its lending platform, and began issuing loans in August 2025. TBC Uzbekistan also completed the setup of TBC BNPL, a dedicated company that will accelerate the expansion of the buy-now-pay-later business from 2026 onwards.

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