Kazakh Freedom Bank Enters Georgian Market

This decision was announced by Mamuka Mdinaradze, Vice Prime Minister and State Minister for Coordination of Law Enforcement Structures, at a briefing held at the Government Administration on Monday.According to him, the new agency will operate in a proactive mode, which means that the response will not depend only on a citizen's complaint - the department itself will monitor, prepare a legal assessment and, if necessary, send the materials to the court. The initiative concerns any type of public communication that contains hate speech, incitement to strife, and defamation.Mdinaradze noted that the decision is a continuation of the initiative put forward by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze several months ago, which aimed to open up the space for public discussion. According to the Vice Prime Minister, for years, external actors have been deliberately artificially closing the space for debate in order to encourage polarization and strife, which has established an aggressive standard of public rhetoric.The State Minister emphasized that the goal of the reform is not to restrict freedom of opinion and expression. According to him, similar practices are in place in a number of European countries, including Britain, Germany, and France, where institutions protect public space from destructive campaigns. According to Mdinaradze, institutional strengthening of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is a fundamental step for the effective implementation of the relevant legislative framework adopted by the Parliament.

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Lion Finance Group (BGEO LN) shares closed at GBP 108.40/share (-1.72% w/w and -2.87% m/m). More than 291k shares traded in the range of GBP 104.90 - 111.10/share. Average daily traded volume was 55k in the last 4 weeks. The volume of BGEO shares traded was at 0.67% of its capitalization.TBC Bank Group (TBCG LN) closed the week at GBP 45.78/share (- 1.80% w/w and -8.37% m/m). More than 341k shares changed hands in the range of GBP 43.70 - 47.68/share. Average daily traded volume was 49k in the last 4 weeks. The volume of TBCG shares traded was at 0.61% of its capitalization.Georgia Capital (CGEO LN) shares closed at GBP 40.35/share (+4.13% w/w and -0.49% m/m). More than 561k shares traded in the range of GBP 37.60 - 40.45/share. Average daily traded volume was 75k in the last 4 weeks. The volume of CGEO shares traded was at 1.63% of its capitalization. 

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Of which, the total number of dairy cows and buffaloes equaled 376.2 thousand heads, which is 5.1 percent less than the same indicator of the previous year.The number of pigs equaled to 152.3 thousand heads which is 0.2 percent more than at the same period of the previous year. The number of poultry decreased by 0.5 percent compared to the same period of the previous year and equaled 8.5 million heads.Meat production increased by 2.9 percent from the same period of the previous year and equaled 18 thousand tons.In the I quarter of 2026 egg production amounted to 179.1 million pieces which is 4.1 percent more than in the same period of the previous year. 

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According to the survey, 113.9 thousand heads of livestock were slaughtered in slaughterhouses in the I quarter of 2026, of which 29.5 percent were cattle, 64.0 percent – pigs and 3.4 percent – sheep and goats. The share of other livestock (excluding poultry) slaughtered was 3.1 percent.In addition, the number of poultry slaughtered in slaughterhouses during the reporting period amounted to 2 332.2 thousand.In total 13.5 thousand tons of meet (i.e. slaughtered weight, including poultry meat) was produced by slaughterhouses during the I quarter of 2026, of which 30.1 percent was beef, 28.6 percent – poultry, 40.8 percent – pork, 0.4 percent – mutton and goat meat, while the share of other meet was negligible.The service was provided to 7.8 thousand persons, 53.6 percent of which were households. Average monthly number of persons employed in slaughterhouses equaled 1 027 persons. The average prices of the slaughter services were: 42.9 GEL per cattle, 34.0 GEL per pig, and 13.4 GEL per sheep or goat.In the I quarter of 2026 the number of active cold storage facilities in Georgia was 331 and most of them were located in Shida Kartli region (66.5 percent). Active cold storage facilities were also located in Tbilisi (12.4 percent), Imereti region (5.4 percent), Kvemo Kartli region (4.2 percent), Adjara AR (3.6 percent), Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region (2.4 percent), SamtskheJavakheti region (2.1 percent), Kakheti region (1.8 percent), Mtskheta-Mtianeti region (0.9 percent), Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti region (0.3 percent) and Guria region (0.3 percent).In the I quarter of 2026, the service was provided to 355 customers. The number of producers and resellers, from whom the products were purchased, amounted to 826 persons. Average monthly number of persons employed in cold storage facilities was 1 662. In total 97.5 thousand tons of products were stored in cold storage facilities during the I quarter of 2026, of which 20.1 percent was chicken meat (including frozen meat), 31.9 percent – meat and meat products (including semi-finished products, excluding chicken meat), 12.7 percent – fish, 19.5 percent – fruits and vegetables, 10.2 percent – milk products and 5.5 percent – other products.n the I quarter of 2026, the share of own production in the total volume of products stored in cold storage facilities was 17.0 percent, while the share of products purchased for further resale was 25.5 percent and the share of products stored as services was 57.5 percent. The service fee in the same period amounted to 7.3 million GEL. In the I quarter of 2026, the total value of products (28.6 thousand tons) sold by cold storage facilities amounted to 224.6 million GEL, of which the share of imported products was 38.5 percent, share of own production was 12.3 percent and the share of products (local) purchased for resale was 49.2 percent. Herewith, 28.3 percent of own production sold by cold storage facilities was chicken meat. Significant share of imported products was milk products (32.3 percent), meat and meat products (including semi-finished products) (24.3 percent), chicken meat (including frozen) (13.1 percent) and fish (9.0 percent). In the I quarter of 2026, the value of products sold by cold storage facilities on the foreign market amounted to 0.3 million GEL, which constituted to 0.1 percent of the total value of products sold in the same period. Mostly chicken meat were sold on the foreign markets. According to the survey results, the average daily load per storage (out of total storage capacity in percentage) was 51.6 percent in January, 48.5 percent in February and 43.5 percent in MarchThe total number of active elevators in Georgia in the I quarter of 2026 was 31 and most of them were located in Kvemo Kartli (35.5 percent) region, while 16.1 percent of active elevators were located in Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region, 16.1 percent in Kakheti region, 12.9 percent in Shida Kartli region, 9.7 percent in Tbilisi, 6.5 percent in Imereti region and 3.2 percent in Guria region, - according to the preliminary data from the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat).Total amount of products sold by the elevators during the I quarter of 2026 amounted to 59.9 thousand tons with total value of 61.0 million GEL. 31.6 percent of this value was imported production and 59.3 percent was local (own produced) products. The biggest share in own production, in terms of volume as well as value, had wheat flour, which constituted to 80.8 percent of total own production sold by the elevators in the same period.According to survey results, average daily load of storages (out of total capacity of storages in percentage) amounted to 50.9 percent in January, 46.7 percent in February and 47.5 percent in March.In the I quarter of 2026, the service was provided to 21 customers. The number of producers and resellers, from whom the product were purchased for resale, was 49 persons, while the average monthly number of persons employed in elevators equaled 439.In total 91 thousand tons of products were stored in elevators during the I quarter of 2026, 65.5 percent of which was wheat and 16.8 percent – soybean meal. The share of products purchased by the elevators for resale in the total amount of products stored in the elevators was 82.9 percent in the same period.According to survey results, average daily load of storages (out of total capacity of storages in percentage) amounted to 50.9 percent in January, 46.7 percent in February and 47.5 percent in March.

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During the introductory meeting, the parties discussed the existing bilateral relations between Georgia and India, as well as cooperation between the two countries’ central banks.The Governor briefed the Ambassador on the NBG’s ongoing and planned projects. In particular, the parties discussed prospects for cooperation in the areas of payment systems and financial services.The discussion also covered opportunities to further strengthen cooperation between the central banks of Georgia and India in other areas. A Memorandum of Understanding is planned to be signed in the near future. The parties emphasized that the memorandum will further enhance cooperation between the two central banks.The meeting was also attended by Vice Governors of the National Bank of Georgia, Ekaterine Galdava and Nino Jeladze, Head of the Payment Systems Department Natalia Chkhoidze, and Head of the International Relations Department Giorgi Edilashvili.

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The largest amount of up to $6 million was transferred from Georgia to Turkey and Azerbaijan. Transfers to Russia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have increased.

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Transfers from the European Union amounted to 141.5 million (+6.8%Y.Y). 92% of remittances from abroad to Georgia come from the 16 largest partner countries, from which the volume of remittances in April exceeded 2 million USD.

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According to Fitch Ratings, Georgia demonstrated “a credible macro-fiscal policy framework moderate public debt and sound banking sector.”“The ratings are supported by Georgia’s strong economic growth, high level of economic development relative to ‘BB’ peers, a credible macro-fiscal policy framework moderate public debt and sound banking sector. These are balanced by heightened political tensions, still relatively high financial dollarisation, high exposure of public debt to foreign-currency (FC) risks and weaker external finances than peers, including relatively low external buffers, and high net external debt.The Georgian economy’s growth remained strong in 1Q26 following average GDP growth slightly above 8% over 2023-2025. Growth has been primarily driven by information and communication technologies and transport services,”  reads the report.From the demand side, GDP growth is well balanced – investments are buoyant, household consumption growth is consistent with increases in real disposable income and net exports are also making a positive contribution. We forecast a mild deceleration in GDP growth this year to about 6.5% in real terms, but expect it to remain stronger than the median for ‘BB’ category peers, despite mounting external challenges. Over the medium term, growth could converge towards the government’s estimate of 5%.“Georgia has consistently delivered strong fiscal performance, underpinned by a transparent and credible fiscal framework. The budget deficit was 1.4% of GDP in 2025, below the 3% limit set in the fiscal rule. The gross general government debt was below 35% of GDP – well below the 52% for the ‘BB’ median. Its strong economic growth helps with buoyant tax revenue and the government has effective control over expenditure,” it said.

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