Council of Europe: Georgia’s prison population is twice the European average

Sandro Rtveladze joins the team with significant international experience, which will further strengthen TBC’s strategic direction - retail business management and contribute to creating a stronger customer experience.Sandro joined TBC from the position of an executive at OTP, one of Europe’s leading business groups. Today, he is the General Director of OTP Uzbekistan (Ipoteka Bank), which is among the top 5 banks in the local market. Sandro has a long-standing successful career, both in Georgia and abroad. In Georgia, he worked at Liberty Bank, where in recent years he held the position of Deputy General Director for Retail Business. Then he continued his career internationally and worked at the African bank Bayport, where, by implementing digital processes, he achieved a large-scale increase in retail lending. After Africa, he joined OTP Group, one of the largest banking groups in Central and Eastern Europe, with total assets of 113.6 billion euros at the end of 2025.“Sandro will significantly strengthen our team. His international experience is unique in creating added value for TBC customers”, - Giorgi Tkhelidze, General Director of TBC Bank.

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“We are delighted to welcome Sandro back to the Group. He brings a combination of deep retail banking expertise and strong execution capabilities across multiple markets. I am confident that his leadership will further strengthen our retail banking in Georgia,” Butskhrikidze said.“Sandro is a highly respected banking executive with a strong track record of delivering growth, innovation and operational excellence. His extensive experience across retail makes him well positioned to lead the next stage of development of our retail banking business,” said Tkhelidze on Rtveladze’s return.As a reminder, Sandro Rtveladze is appointed as Deputy CEO, Retail Banking of JSC TBC Bank, subject to the approval of the National Bank of Georgia, and will join the Bank with effect from 6 July 2026, or such later date as may be required for the completion of the relevant regulatory approvals. In this role, he will oversee the wide range of products, services and channels serving the Bank's retail customers.Sandro joins JSC TBC Bank from Ipoteka Bank, where, as chairman of the management board, he led the successful turnaround of OTP Group's Uzbek subsidiary. He was previously the CEO of TBC Uzbekistan, the Group's digital bank, and has held senior roles at OTP Bank Russia, Liberty Bank Georgia and Bayport Management Africa, bringing more than a decade of senior management experience in retail and digital banking.With strong Georgian roots and 11 years of extensive international leadership experience, this appointment represents a homecoming and will further strengthen the Bank's growth and transformation agenda.

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In the I quarter of 2026, compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, the ports and terminals of Georgia received 23.0 percent less liquid bulk, 8.7 percent less – specialized carriers, 8.4 percent less general cargo carriers, 6.1 percent less – container ships, and 5.0 percent less – dry bulk.In the I quarter of 2026, 18.2 percent of the ships arriving at the ports and terminals of Georgia sailed under the flag of Panama, 13.7 percent – under the flag of Turkey, 10.0 percent – under the flag of Liberia, 7.5 percent – under the flag of Malta, and the rest of 50.6 percent were distributed among other countries.In the I quarter of 2026, Georgian seaports served 3.2 thousand passengers, which is 53.6 percen more compared to the corresponding figure of the previous year. Note, the share of passengers departed was higher than the share of passengers entered and stood at 55.3 percent.In the I quarter of 2026, ports and terminals of Georgia processed 4 316.9 thousand tons of cargo, 19.7 percent more compared to the corresponding figure of the previous year. 49.1 percent of freight carried was general cargo, 30.4 percent was liquid bulk, and 20.4 percent – dry bulk.

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In the same period, the prices for manufactured products increased by 0.7 percent, contributing 0.54 percentage points to the monthly index change.Within the group, a noteworthy price increase was registered for chemicals and chemical products (8.4 percent) and coke and refined petroleum products (7.9 percent). Besides, the prices increased for electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning by 1.1 percent, contributing 0.11 percentage points to the monthly index change.The annual PPI rate was mainly affected by price changes for the following products: Mining and quarrying: the prices were 27.6 percent higher, contributing 1.8 percentage points to the overall annual index change. Within the group, the prices were higher for the subgroup of metal ores (34.3 percent); Manufactured products: the prices increased by 5.3 percent, contributing 4.28 percentage points to the overall annual index increase. There was a notable increase in the prices for food products (6.3 percent) and beverages (5.6 percent); Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning: the annual price increase amounted to 3.7 percent, which contributed 0.39 percentage points to the annual index change; Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation services: the annual price increase amounted to 6.8 percent, which contributed 0.21 percentage points to the annual index growth.

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In the I quarter of 2026, scheduled flights carried 93.6 percent of passengers in airports of Georgia.In the I quarter of 2026, the number of passenger flights from Georgian airports increased by 20.8 percent compared to the same period of the previous year and amounted to 7.3 thousands.In the I quarter of 2026, in airports of Georgia the volume of freight and mail amounted to 10.3 thousand tons, of which 92.1 percent was arrived freight and post, and 7.9 percent was departured.In the I quarter of 2026, 0.9 thousand freight flights were carried out in the airports of Georgia and that is 6.2 percent more than the same figure of 2025.In the I quarter 2026, airway companies of Georgia transported 190.7 thousand passengers and 30.5 thousand tons of freight. Compared to the corresponding period of the previous year the number of passengers increased by 57.7 percent and freight decreased by 18.1 persent.

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In the I quarter of 2026, incoming freight represented 75.0 percent of the railway-transported freight, while the share of outgoing freight was 25 percent.In the I quarter of 2026, the sender country of 40.6 percent of total incoming rail freight was Russian Federation, 20.8 percent was sent by Azerbaijan. The share of other countries sending cargo was less than ten percent each (38.7 percent combined).In the I quarter of 2026, Kazakhstan was the final destination for 9.8 percent of total outgoing freight, for 8.9 percent it was Armenia, for 8.6 percent – Russian Federation. The share of other individual receiving countries was relatively small (72.7 percent combined).In the I quarter of 2026, the breakdown of the total transit freight1 by the final destination country was as follows: the China – 7.6 percent, Turkey – 7.5 percent, the Netherlands – 4.4 percent, Ukraine – 2.8 percent, Italy – 1.4 percent, Romania – 1.0 percent, and elsewhere was for the rest.In the same period, Brazil was the sender country of 5.3 percent of the total transit freight, Turkey – 3.0 percent and other countries sent the rest. In the reporting period, 33.4 percent of the total freight were coke and refined petroleum products, 23.9 percent were chemicals, chemical products, and man-made fibers; rubber and plastic products, and 12.3 percent were metal ores and other mining and quarrying products.The distribution by type of goods was different in case of freights transported domestically in the I quarter of 2026, as the share of metal ores and other mining and quarrying products equaled 63.2 percent of total, and the share of coke and refined petroleum products amounted to 17.8 percent; while the share of transport equipment amounted to 13.7 percent.As for the freights transported internationally, in the reporting period, incoming goods were mainly coke and refined petroleum products (52.7 percent), other nonmetallic mineral products (12.9 percent), metal ores and other mining and quarrying products (10.5 percent), coal and lignite; crude petroleum and natural gas (6.9 percent), products of agriculture, hunting, and forestry (3.8 percent), chemicals, chemical products, and man-made fibers (3.7 percent) and basic metals (3.6 percent); while outgoing goods were mainly chemicals, chemical products, and man-made fibers (38.5 percent), food products, beverages and tobacco (25.7 percent), basic metals (12.7 percent) and metal ores and other mining and quarrying products (12.6 percent). In the I quarter of 2026, three type of goods, namely chemicals, chemical products, and man-made fibers (34.6 percent), coke and refined petroleum products (31.6 percent) and food products, beverages and tobacco (10.0 percent) constituted for 76.2 percent of the total volume of transit freight.In the I quarter of 2026, the number of passengers transported by the Georgian Railway decreased by 13.5 percent compared to the corresponding period of the previous year and amounted to 301.8 thousand persons. At the same time, passenger turnover decreased by 13.8 percent and amounted to 68.3 million passenger-kilometer.In the I quarter of 2026, the number of passengers transported within the country amounted to 298.0 thousand persons, which represents 98.7 percent of the total number of passengers carried and is 13.8 percent less than the same figure of 2025. At the same time, the number of passengers transported internationally amounted to 3.8 thousand, which is 26.1 percent more than the corresponding figure of the previous year. The country of embarkation was Armenia for 73.1 percent of internationally transported passengers, while the country of disembarkation was Armenia for 26.9 percent (no passengers were transported from/to any other neighboring country in the I quarter of 2026).

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According to the regulator, this was one of the largest and most complex financial infrastructure projects since 2009, requiring significant technological updates from commercial banks, microbanks, and the State Treasury.The modernized RTGS system aims to provide faster, safer, and more reliable services for both individuals and businesses, while aligning more closely with international standards. The upgrade also lays the foundation for future innovations, such as an Instant Payments System (IPS) and additional digital services.Built on the global ISO 20022 standard, the new payment infrastructure enhances flexibility, efficiency, and modernization across Georgia’s financial ecosystem. The project was implemented with the support of the World Bank, helping ensure full alignment with international best practices.Recent legislative changes have also expanded access to the NBG’s payment systems, allowing non-bank payment service providers to join once requirements are met-a move expected to boost competition and improve customer services. The National Bank thanked all stakeholders and the system provider Montran for their cooperation in successfully delivering the upgrade.

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In January-April 2026, the share of the ten largest export partner countries in Georgia's total exports amounted to 72.1%. The top three exporters were as follows: Kyrgyzstan ($272.8 million) China ($255.1 million) Azerbaijan ($211.3 million) In January-April 2026, the share of the ten largest import partner countries in Georgia's total imports amounted to 70.5%. The top three include: Turkey ($903.1 million) Russia ($766.3 million) China ($678.2 million) According to Geostat, in January-April 2026, the share of the ten largest trading partner countries in Georgia's total foreign trade turnover amounted to 66.7%. The country's largest trading partners are: Turkey ($1.09 billion) Russia ($965.7 million) China ($933.3 million) In January-April 2026, among the top ten export commodity groups, passenger cars took first place with $537.4 million, which accounts for 22% of all exports. Second place is taken by oil and petroleum products with $324.1 million (13.3% of all exports), and third place is taken by precious metal ores and concentrates with $225.1 million (9.2%).The largest import commodity group in January-April 2026 was passenger cars, the imports of which amounted to $925.9 million and 16.3% of all imports. Second place is taken by petroleum and petroleum products with $471.3 million (8.3% of imports), and third place is taken by petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons with $254.1 million (4.5% of imports).

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