The government of Lebanon has expelled the ambassador of Iran, citing interference in the country’s internal affairs, AzerNEWS reports via Associated Press.
Day: March 24, 2026
Forbes Georgia, a local business publication, on March 23 published its first-ever ranking of Georgia’s 100 richest entrepreneurs, placing Bidzina Ivanishvili – the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party and its current honorary chairman, widely considered the country’s informal ruler – in second place.
According to Forbes Georgia, the combined wealth of the 100 richest Georgians exceeds GEL 60.1 billion (approximately USD 22.4 billion), nearly 60% of the country’s annual gross domestic product and roughly three times its annual budget revenue. Even among the richest, wealth is unevenly distributed, with the top 10 controlling around 60% of the total held by the top 100, and the top 5 holding almost half, the publication added.
Finance, telecommunications, healthcare, trade, and real estate account for “the lion’s share” of total wealth, Forbes Georgia said, noting that these sectors “rely on infrastructure, existing networks, and operational scale.”
It added that, unlike technology, “where wealth can be created in leaps,” the industries listed above “strengthen their position through advantages accumulated over time,” reflecting the “institutional reality” of a developing economy, where “existing market access and contacts play a decisive role.”
“Innovation-based capital emerges, but the wealth hierarchy remains largely defined by control over existing economic systems.”
Forbes Georgia noted that the ranking covers only assets located within Georgia, excluding foreign and offshore holdings, and is based on “financial reporting, ownership data, sectoral analysis, and multiple verifications.”
It noted that the ranking includes only individuals whose business assets can be assessed based on publicly available and verifiable data. Core financial figures are drawn from 2023 financial statements submitted to the Service for Accounting, Reporting and Auditing Supervision portal, while ownership information was sourced from the Public Registry, the financial reporting portal, official company websites, “communication with individuals affiliated with the companies, and other public sources.”
The list includes 12 women. The average age of the 100 richest Georgians is 56, with the youngest at 25 and the oldest at 90. Only the top two – Mikheil Lomtadze and Bidzina Ivanishvili – also appear on the Forbes global ranking.
The Top Ten
Mikheil Lomtadze, 50, tops the ranking with a declared wealth of GEL 15.853 billion. He is CEO and chairman of Kaspi, Kazakhstan’s leading digital and banking services company, whose app is used by more than half the country’s population. Originally from Batumi, he built his wealth in Kazakhstan. Since 2024, he has also owned English football club Wycombe Wanderers. He ranks 597th in the Forbes Global ranking.
Bidzina Ivanishvili, 70, founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, former prime minister of Georgia, the party’s current honorary chairman and widely regarded as the country’s informal ruler, ranks second with GEL 7.254 billion. Ivanishvili accumulated his wealth in Russia following the collapse of the USSR, primarily in the “banking and metallurgy sectors.” Ivanishvili has been engaged in a long-running legal dispute with Swiss bank Credit Suisse. London’s Privy Council found the bank defrauded him of USD 607 million, but his lawyer said the funds might not have been recovered, citing U.S. sanctions. He ranks 1362nd in the Forbes Global ranking.
Giorgi Jokhtaberidze, 72, ranks third with GEL 2.764 billion. He owns a 75% stake in MagtiCom, the leading telecommunications company in Georgia, which Forbes ranks as the country’s fifth most valuable firm. According to Forbes Georgia, Jokhtaberidze, the son-in-law of Georgia’s second president, Eduard Shevardnadze, is also a collector of contemporary Georgian art. Nearly 3,500 works from his family’s collection are exhibited at the Museum of Georgian Fine Arts, which he founded.
Irakli Rukhadze, 59, ranks fourth with GEL 2.227 billion. His assets include a 25% stake in MagtiCom, a 41% stake in Georgian Cement, near full ownership of Liberty Bank, and full ownership of Rustavi Steel. Rukhadze also owned the pro-government TV channel Imedi, which he sold in February, weeks before Imedi, alongside another pro-government channel, POSTV, was sanctioned by the United Kingdom for “Russian disinformation.”
Temur Chkonia, 75, ranks fifth with GEL 1.745 billion. He holds an 87% stake in Coca-Cola Bottlers Georgia and a 90% stake in T & K Restaurants LLC, which operates the McDonald’s fast-food restaurant chain in Georgia. His company has been bottling soft drinks since 1993 and also holds Coca-Cola licenses in Armenia and Azerbaijan, according to Forbes. Chkhonia is widely regarded as an opposition-leaning businessman who has funded, among others, major critical TV channels.
Paata Kurtanidze, 58, ranks sixth with GEL 1.562 billion. He owns Aversi, a major pharmacy chain ranked by Forbes among the country’s top ten companies with revenues, and holds an 85% stake in Aversi Rational, a pharmaceutical manufacturing company. The Aversi group also includes Aversi Clinic, previously named among Georgia’s third most profitable hospitals.
Giorgi Ramishvili, 58, ranks seventh with a wealth of GEL 1.485 billion. He owns a 62% stake in Silk Road Group, which brings together several major companies, including Silknet, a leading local communications provider. Silknet acquired Geocell, a mobile communication brand, in 2018 in what the publication calls “the largest corporate deal” in Georgia’s history. The holding also includes hotels such as Radisson Blu Iveria and The Telegraph. He also holds a 16% stake in Wissol Petroleum, one of Georgia’s largest fuel station chains.
Kakhaber Okriashvili, 59, ranks eighth with GEL 1.141 billion. He owns a 95% stake in PSP, one of Georgia’s largest pharmaceutical companies, as well as GM Pharma and a 33% stake in Western Georgia Medical Center. Okriashvili served five terms as an MP between 2004 and 2024 under both ruling parties at different times: first as a UNM MP from 2008 to 2016, then as a GD MP from 2016 to 2020, and again as a UNM MP from 2020 to 2024.
Khvicha Makatsaria, 61, ranks ninth with GEL 1.132 billion. He owns a 25% stake in Tbilisi Energy, which supplies gas to the capital, and a 12% stake in Telasi, the electricity distributor in Tbilisi. In 2022, he acquired Cellfie Mobile (formerly Beeline), the country’s third-largest mobile operator.
Gia Gorgoshadze, 55, rounds out the top ten with GEL 1.045 billion. He is the sole owner of Gorgia, a major company in the construction and refurbishment sector, operating 13 branches across eight cities since its founding in 1998.
Other Notable Entries
Maka Asatiani, 52, a former model and businesswoman, ranks 12th with GEL 806 million. Her family owns Mercedes-Benz Georgia LLC and real estate firm Trade Stone Iberia LLC, through which she holds a 30% stake in Black Sea Petroleum, operator of the Kulevi oil terminal. The terminal reportedly received its first cargo of Russian oil from Russneft in October and was being considered for the European Union’s 20th Russian sanctions list.
Mamuka Khazaradze, 59, leader of the opposition Lelo-Strong Georgia party, ranks 18th with GEL 732.2 million. A co-founder of TBC Bank, one of the two major commercial banks in Georgia, he currently holds a 10% stake in the bank as well as a 25% stake in real estate firm Lisi Development. He is among eight opposition figures facing charges in the so-called “sabotage” case over “crimes against the state.”
Badri Japaridze, 65, with GEL 478.8 million, ranks 23rd. He is another co-founder of TBC Bank, currently holding a 6% stake in the company and a 25% stake in Lisi Lake Development. He also faces charges in the same case.
Kakha Bekauri, 57, former head of Georgia’s Communications Commission, the state media regulator, ranks 36th with GEL 326.2 million. He owns one-third of Ori Nabiji, one of the country’s largest supermarket chains.
Anton Obolashvili, 51, a Georgian Dream MP since 2020, ranks 46th with GEL 244.6 million. He is the sole owner of Globalpharm, which operates in pharmaceutical import and distribution. He is also active in the real estate sector.
Shota Berekashvili, 51, also a Georgian Dream MP and chair of a parliamentary commission examining the pricing of food products, medicines, and fuel, ranks 73rd with GEL 122.3 million. He holds a 50% stake in BK Construction LLC, founded in 2017, active in residential, commercial, and hotel development.
Zaal Dugladze, 55, another Georgian Dream MP, ranks 80th with GEL 115.9 million. He and his brother Davit co-own Dugladze Wine Company LLC, founded in 2013, which produces and trades wine and spirits.
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Opinion on the Patriarch of Georgia
According to political analyst Gia Khukhashvili, there is no one left in Georgia who can compare to Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II, whom he described as the last unifying authority for the public. He said that following the Patriarch’s death, the country’s unity faces even greater risks, as Ilia II was among the few figures capable of navigating highly complex political tensions.
Khukhashvili also said that all of Georgia’s presidents, including Mikheil Saakashvili, should have attended the Patriarch’s funeral.
Catholicos-Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church Ilia II was buried on Sunday, 22 March 2026, at Sioni Cathedral in Tbilisi. After five days of mourning, the country bid farewell to a figure who for nearly half a century shaped the direction of the Church and, often, of society as a whole. His funeral became a major historic event and a display of collective emotion.
Gia Khukhashvili said:
“Yesterday marked a turning point in Georgia’s history. After the Patriarch’s death, the country’s unity faces even greater risks, because he was a figure who could navigate very complex political battles, playing the role of a mediator.
In modern Georgia, there is no one left who can call for reconciliation and dialogue — he was the last authority in the country.
Bishop Shio may be a very intelligent person, but he does not yet have the status or experience of a church leader. He does not command the same level of authority as Ilia II. For his words to carry weight and significance, he must first build that authority.
In recent years, when the Patriarch no longer seemed able to fully control the situation, certain problems emerged within the Church, including political bias, interference in politics — largely in favour of the government — and various public statements. Clearly, this was not in the Patriarch’s style.”
“It is clear that Saakashvili is in prison, and that this is unacceptable. I do not hold him in high regard either, but he was the president of this country and worked in tandem with the Patriarch. If he had been brought to the funeral, what would have happened? Especially as the authorities said there would be no security risks.
Mikheil Saakashvili, Giorgi Margvelashvili, Salome Zourabichvili, and the wife of Zviad Gamsakhurdia should have been there. The Patriarch runs as a leitmotif through the history of these figures in Georgia. For nearly half a century, he bore the heavy cross of our sins and has now passed into the Kingdom of Heaven burdened by them, and the people with whom he led this country, in sickness and in health, should have been there, at least symbolically.”
Opinion on the Patriarch of Georgia
Azerbaijan recorded a decline in electricity generation in the first two months of 2026, driven by reduced output from both thermal and hydropower plants. As reported by AzerNEWS, according to the State Statistical Committee of Azerbaijan, electricity production at thermal power plants reached 3.708 billion kWh in January-February 2026. This represents a decrease of…
Great news. It will affect not only #Armenia but also entire #SouthCaucasus 🇦🇿🇦🇲🇬🇪🇪🇺
— Mammadov Riad (@Mamedov1703) Mar 24, 2026
Azerbaijan exported 4,569 tons of hazelnuts in January–February 2026, enerating $57.66 million in revenue, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan, AzerNEWS reports. This marks an increase of 524 tons in volume and a twofold rise in value compared to the same period last year, highlighting strong performance in one of the country’s key non-oil export sectors.
During the reporting period, hazelnut exports accounted for…