NBG Hosted Educational Meeting for Students of the Europe Business Association Youth Academy

According to the explanatory note to the draft law, the current sanctions in a number of cases fail to provide a preventive function of administrative liability. The scope of the new regulation includes such large entities as: energy and industrial facilities, oil depots, mineral miners, metallurgical and chemical plants, infrastructure constructions and facilities that have wastewater.The main financial sanctions provided for by the draft law: Activities without an environmental decision: will be fined from 25,000 to 30,000 GEL (under the current regulation, the sanction was from 7,000 to 10,000 GEL). Activities without a screening procedure: will be determined from 7,000 to 10,000 GEL, and in case of repeated violation - 20,000 GEL. Arbitrary change of operating conditions: Changing the conditions without a relevant decision will result in a fine of 25,000 to 30,000 GEL (instead of 7,000 - 10,000 GEL), and a repeated case will result in a fine of 50,000 GEL (the current sanction was 14,000 GEL). Failure to fulfill obligations and failure to apply: A person who does not apply to the agency for an environmental decision will be warned for the first time, and will be fined 5,000 GEL for a repeated violation. The legislative package also changes the rules of administration. In particular, employees of the Environmental Supervision Department are authorized to consider violations on the spot and issue a penalty receipt in cases where additional investigation is not required. In addition, the agency will be able to publicly publish fine receipts on its website if the violator fails to submit the document twice. In such a situation, the receipt will automatically be considered submitted on the 30th day after publication.According to the authors, tightening sanctions will also lead to an increase in state budget revenues, although the specific financial effect will be independent of the number of violations recorded.

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In her speech, Ekaterine Mikabadze focused on the importance of sustainability reporting for the development of the banking sector and capital markets. According to her, at the international level, sustainability reporting is increasingly becoming an important component of corporate governance, effective risk management and informed investment decision-making.“The National Bank of Georgia considers sustainable finance to be one of the important foundations of financial stability and long-term economic sustainability,” said Ekaterine Mikabadze.She also spoke about the reforms and initiatives implemented by the National Bank in the direction of sustainable finance. In particular, the introduction of ESG guidelines, ESG reporting and information disclosure framework for commercial banks, as well as the development of a regulatory framework for green, social, sustainability and sustainability-related bonds.According to Ekaterine Mikabadze, the quality and reliability of information are of particular importance for the development of sustainable finance, and appropriate assurance services contribute to strengthening investor confidence and reducing the risks of so-called “greenwashing”.“We believe that, in parallel with the introduction of sustainability reporting, attention should also be focused on the development and introduction of relevant assurance services in the local market,” said Ekaterine Mikabadze.Head of the Financial Stability Department of the National Bank of Georgia, David Utiashvili, participated in the panel discussion “Benefits and Challenges of Sustainability Reporting” held within the framework of the meeting.Representatives of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia, the Polish Audit Supervision Agency (PANA), the Pension Fund, the World Bank and the private sector also participated in the event. The participants of the meeting discussed the directions of development of sustainability reporting in Georgia and the importance of sharing international practices.

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According to the Armenpress agency, Pashinyan made this statement at a briefing in response to a question asked by a journalist regarding comments made by Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze. According to Kobakhidze, foreign patrons and local groups are trying to set Georgia against Armenia.“As for Georgia, I have clearly stated that Georgia plays a very important and key role in Armenian-European relations and we are very concerned about the current situation. We believe that this situation must be resolved,” the Armenian Prime Minister said.Pashinyan stressed that the partnership between Tbilisi and Yerevan is independent of any external factors and cannot be determined by third parties.“The relations between Armenia and Georgia have nothing to do with relations with third parties. Naturally, these relations are strategic, long-term, historical and fraternal in nature and will remain so. Any other scenario is simply impossible,” Nikol Pashinyan said.

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It is planned to issue up to $10 million in 2-year bonds, with a fixed rate of 8%-8.5%.Nutrimax has been on the market since 2009. Its partner is the Dutch Trouw Nutrition. It owns a feed mill for farm animals and poultry (annual capacity 84,000 tons). Since 08/2021, it has been represented by the subsidiary "Nutrimax Petfood", which owns an extruded feed mill for companion animals (dogs and cats), as well as fish (capacity 24,000 tons).Nutrimax also operates in neighboring countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Moldova).Product Range Nutrimax's business lines are divided into 2 main categories:

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According to preliminary data from the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV), the decline in production is due to an unusually abundant harvest in 2024, while favorable weather in 2025 allowed the country to maintain production close to the high level of recent years.Regional trendsResults in the Northern Hemisphere (outside the European Union) are mixed.Russian wine production is around 5.1 million hectoliters, which is at the same level as in 2024 and 9% above the five-year average. Moldova, after droughts and frosts in 2024, showed an 18% increase in production (1.4 million hectolitres), driven by abundant spring rainfall.Production in the European Union is 140 million hectolitres, up 2.1 million hectolitres (+2%) compared to 2024, but 8% below the five-year average. Italy (47.4 million hectolitres) has regained its position as the world’s largest producer, while France (35.9 million hectolitres) and Spain (29.4 million hectolitres) are experiencing historically low yields due to climate stress, drought and disease.Global outlookGlobal wine production is forecast to reach 232 million hectolitres in 2025. This is 3% higher than the historical low of 2024, but still 7% below the average of the last five years.USA: Production increased to 21.7 million tons (+3%), but still below the historical peak.Southern Hemisphere: Production increased by 7% (49 million tons). Australia (11.6 million tons) and New Zealand (3.7 million tons) showed increases, while Chile’s production decreased by 10% due to water shortages.Market balanceAccording to the OIV, production has been below average for the third consecutive year, reducing pressure on stocks amid falling global demand. Climate change remains a major factor determining global production levels.

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For comparison, hydropower supplied 93% of total supply on average in April from 2021-24. This year, late warming delayed snowmelt, causing water levels to rise only in late April, while in previous years high hydropower generation was recorded from early April. As a result, April saw an unusually high demand for thermal power (16.5% of total supply) and imports (4.3% of total supply).In April, 3 power plants were commissioned: 2 hydropower plants were launched in test mode - Chiora HPP and Bakhvi 2B HPP, with a total installed capacity of up to 40 MW; and the 18.7 MW “Upper Wind Station” was put into operation.In April 2026, electricity imports amounted to 51 GWh (4.3% of total supply), although only half of this was commercial imports, 24.8 GWh from Turkey. Of the remaining volume, 9 GWh came from Russia for the Abkhazian region, while the 17 GWh import from Azerbaijan was fully balanced by exports of the same volume and value to Azerbaijan in the same day slot. The identical volumes of imports and exports indicate that these transactions were not commercial trade and were related to the technical needs of synchronous operation.Imports from Turkey were carried out on April 16-22, during the shutdown period of thermal power plants. Its value was $0.7 million, and the average price was 2.9 US cents per kWh. It is noteworthy that in 2026, except for February, imports from Turkey were carried out in all months, which is associated with historically low prices on the Turkish market. The price decrease, in turn, was associated with increased renewable generation due to favorable climatic conditions.As for the average price of balancing electricity, it decreased by 5% year-on-year in April and amounted to 5.8 US cents per kWh.In addition, the balancing capacity increased by 21.7% and was 0.4 TWh, which accounts for 32.6% of the total supply.

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Galt & Taggart analysts note that this once again demonstrates the vulnerability caused by dependence on hydropower and the need for accelerated development of new generation sources.In the first four months of 2026, electricity consumption increased by 6.6% year-on-year to 5.1 TWh. According to Galt & Taggart, the increase is associated with a particularly cold winter and the activation of the ferroalloys sectors.In the first four months of 2026, the share of thermal generation and imports in total supply amounted to 44.3%, which exceeds the similar indicator of the previous year (39.2%). The increase was mainly associated with weak hydrology in April and low water levels in the Enguri reservoir at the beginning of the year.In addition, Turkey was among the main sources of imports for 3 out of 4 months of 2026, which indicates increased competition in imports and possible structural changes.Overall, the high share of imports and thermal generation once again emphasizes the need for accelerated development of new generation.Domestic consumption was 1.1 TWh in April 2026, up 2.1% year-on-year. This growth was driven by retail customers (+5.1% y/y) and Abkhazia (+7.3% y/y). Direct customer consumption decreased by 8.5% year-on-year, mainly due to lower activity in crypto mining and data center companies.

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According to Government Decree No. 945, the funds will be used to co-finance projects funded by donor organizations. These include the 500-kilovolt power transmission lines (PTLs) “Tskaltubo-Akhaltsikhe-Tortumi” and “Jvari-Tskaltubo”, “Northern Ring” (Namakhvani-Tskaltubo-Lajanuri), “Kheledula-Lajanuri-Oni”, as well as projects to strengthen the power transmission infrastructure of Guria and Kakheti.According to GSE, the 500 kV Jvari-Tskaltubo overhead line project is being implemented by the Turkish company Bozlar Yapi. Work on the project began in 2021 and is scheduled for completion in 4Q27. As for the 220 kV Khledula-Lajanuri and Oni-Lajanuri power transmission lines, a €25.6 million contract has been signed with India’s KEC International Limited for their construction, and the works are scheduled to be completed in January 2029.The aforementioned infrastructure works are being implemented within the framework of the “Large-scale Investment Program for the Improvement of the Electricity Network” (ENIP), which is being implemented in partnership with the European Union, GSE, and the German Development Bank (KfW).The total budget of the program is €270 million, which includes funding from the German government (through KfW) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), as well as a grant of $9.9 million from the European Union Neighborhood Investment Platform (EU NIP).The program, which began in 2021 and will be completed in 2028, includes the construction and expansion of 7 substations and more than 540 kilometers of power transmission lines in the regions of Imereti, Guria, Racha, Svaneti and Kakheti.

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