Tbilisi (GBC) – After merging with Liberty Bank, Basisbank will significantly strengthen its position in the retail lending market. Its share in total credit placement is expected to grow from 4.5% to 9.5%. However, the full migration process is still a long way off. In the meantime, Rukhadze might try to attract some of Liberty’s valuable retail clients.

According to the National Bank of Georgia’s instruction, after the acquisition of shares, Liberty will continue operating under its current organizational-legal form as a subsidiary of Basisbank. The full merger process is expected to take 9–12 months.

According to the semi-annual report, Basisbank has issued loans totaling 880 million GEL to 45,170 individuals (compared to 817 million GEL in H1/2024). Liberty, on the other hand, has issued 2.3 billion GEL worth of loans to 510,010 individuals, with more than half (281,320 clients) being pensioners with loans under 0.5 billion GEL.

The credit portfolios of the two banks also differ in concentration. 71% (2.2 billion GEL) of Basisbank’s total credit placement (3.053 billion GEL) is in loans to legal entities. Liberty’s portfolio (4.03 billion GEL) consists of up to 60% (2.3 billion GEL) in retail loans.

Before the expected merger, Basisbank and Liberty had separately expanded — three years ago, they divided the sanctioned VTB Bank Georgia’s assets (loans and deposits). Liberty grew its corporate portfolio, while Basisbank expanded in retail.