Day: April 16, 2026

BasisBank, owned by a Chinese Hualing Group, acquired Liberty Bank, Georgia’s third-largest bank, which has been co-owned by the ruling party-close businessman Irakli Rukhadze, the former owner of pro-government Imedi channel, who had sold the TV shares shortly before it was sanctioned by the UK.

The banks reported the completion of the transaction on April 16, stating that BasisBank became the owner of 95.99% of Liberty Bank’s shares after receiving the necessary regulatory approvals. Liberty Bank has secured major state contracts, including being the exclusive agent for distributing state pensions.

The completion of the deal follows months of negotiations between the two banks, as Liberty Bank co-owner Irakli Rukhadze confirmed plans in April 2025 to sell the bank. In November, however, reports said that BasisBank would no longer acquire Liberty Bank, as Rukhadze said talks between the banks were still ongoing about a possible merger.

The banks, however, did not disclose the sale price. Their general directors – Davit Tsaava of BasisBank and Beka Gogichaishvili of Liberty Bank – said the deal would support Georgia’s economic development.

Rukhadze, the fourth-wealthiest businessman in the country according to Forbes Georgia, had owned around a third of Liberty Bank shares. He also owned the pro-government Imedi TV channel, which he sold in February, weeks before it was sanctioned by the UK for “Russian disinformation,” in what later turned out to be for a symbolic price of GEL 1,000 (approximately USD 370).

Economist and former president of the National Bank of Georgia Roman Gotsiridze said Rukhadze “fled” Liberty Bank “due to fears of sanctions,” writing in a Facebook post, “The pensions and social assistance of more than 1.6 million of our citizens will be distributed by a bank under Chinese control,” warning that the Chinese company that owns BasisBank “will have [access to] the personal data of 42% of Georgia’s population.”

He added, “If there is anything positive to see in this deal, it is that Liberty Bank has escaped the threat of sanctions.”

BasisBank has been Georgia’s fourth-largest bank by assets. In 2012, China’s Hualing Group acquired a 90% stake in the bank, which later increased to 92%. According to the 2025 financial statements, the bank’s total assets stood at GEL 4.9 billion, with a loan portfolio of GEL 3.3 billion and deposits of GEL 3.5 billion. The net profit for 2025 was GEL 122.4 million.

Liberty Bank is Georgia’s third-largest bank, serving more than 1.7 million individual clients and more than 60,000 businesses. Its total assets amount to GEL 5.8 billion, with a loan portfolio of GEL 4.2 billion and deposits of GEL 4.17 billion. Its net profit for 2025 was GEL 128 million. According to 2025 financial documents, the bank’s owners were the founders of Hunnewell Partners: Irakli Rukhadze, Ben Marson, and Igor Alexeev, each owning 31.38% of shares.

Business Media Georgia projects that after the acquisition, the combined bank will have total assets of more than 11 billion lari, accounting for more than 10% of Georgia’s banking system, which remains dominated by Bank of Georgia and TBC Bank, the two largest commercial banks.

Also Read:

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Abkhazia’s Prosecutor General’s Office is continuing to press parliament to strip opposition MP Kan Kvarchia of his immunity in order to open a criminal case against him.

The Telegram channel “Abkhaz Analytical Centre” says the authorities are putting their own loyal MPs in a difficult position — one that ultimately works against the government itself.

Abkhaz opposition figure faces criminal charges, final decision rests with parliament

Kan Kvarchia is one of the figures in a scandal involving Russian political consultants who worked illegally in Abkhazia

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Looking at the prospects of this high-profile case, the “Abkhaz Analytical Centre” says the demand to strip Kan Kvarchia of immunity is no longer just a legal issue but a political one. It affects not only the MP himself but also his colleagues in parliament. In the centre’s view, they now find themselves caught between two pressures.

“On the one hand, there is pressure and the need to demonstrate loyalty. On the other, there is the risk of losing the support of their core electorate.

In Abkhaz political culture, there is a line that should not be crossed. People can be opponents, argue and disagree. But when there is a sense of injustice and external pressure, Abkhaz solidarity comes into play,” the authors explain.

They suggest that even those who disagree with Kvarchia on internal issues may feel compelled to support him, so as not to appear disloyal or opportunistic.

As a result, the authorities are effectively helping the opposition by creating an agenda for it.

“They are doing so in the most disadvantageous way for themselves — by irritating society, dividing their own support base and pushing their own allies into political traps,” the “Abkhaz Analytical Centre” concludes.

Russian political strategists secretly worked for pro-presidential candidates in Abkhazia

One ran a “local” newspaper and was smearing opponents, the other secretly worked at the Election Commission. The opposition exposed them, but the “consultants” were simply expelled from Abkhazia

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Opinion on the Kan Kvarchia case

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On April 16, Georgia is to close airspace over the area of Abastumani, a health resort in the country’s south, with officials citing the need to ensure clear skies above the local astrophysical observatory. However, sources told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Georgian Service that the move is in fact a “whim” of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire founder of Georgian Dream, who owns a residence in the area.

The government’s February 9 decree, signed by Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and published by RFE/RL, orders the closure of the “Abastumani 2” airspace along the border with Turkey with the goal of “ensuring atmospheric transparency for astronomical observations.” Effective from April 16, the decree restricts all flights above the area except for Georgia’s state aviation, rescue missions, or safety or bad weather emergencies. The decree applies the GND-UNL restriction, meaning vertical scope from ground level to “unlimited” altitude flights.

A journalistic investigation by RFE/RL’s Georgian Service, however, cites sources in the aviation industry and state regulatory bodies claiming that the closure, covering an area roughly 52 km in diameter and at least “four times the size” of Tbilisi territory, is more a “whim” of Ivanishvili, who has maintained a family residence in the area since 2020.

At the same time, the manager of the well-known Abastumani Observatory told the outlet that the restriction, which RFE/RL describes as unprecedented in Georgia and at odds with international practice around observatories elsewhere, was long requested by the observatory itself.

Restriction and Potential Effects

According to the RFE/RL report, published on April 15, the new restrictions will amend and disrupt routes – including Route N644 and M747 – that have been daily used by “dozens” of international airlines in flights connecting European and Asian destinations. The outlet said they first heard about the restriction, which remained unknown to the public until recently, from an “informed source” months ago.

Representatives of EUROCONTROL, an international aviation union, however, told RFE/RL that it had been warned as early as 2023 about the pending restriction, which would add an average of 10 km to long-haul flights, and the agency has taken it into account when planning future routes.

Per the report, the restricted zone fully covers Abastumani, the Adigeni municipality, and parts of southern Georgia, effectively closing off approximately 2,000 square kilometers of airspace. The restriction covers nearly a third of the distance between the Turkish border and the Caucasus range, “significantly narrowing maneuvering space and pushing flights northward,” the report says, affecting the area that it says is already constrained by the mountainous terrain.

Anonymous sources from the aviation industry and state agencies told RFE/RL that they are concerned the new restriction could cause severe disruption, including flight diversions, increased costs and travel times, bottlenecks, as well as heightened safety risks and higher airfares.

It is also feared that the measure could undermine the country’s ability to fully benefit from its role as a Eurasian transit corridor, a role that has grown in importance as flights have been diverted amid Russia’s war in Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East. RFE/RL has cited official figures showing that Georgia’s airspace traffic load has increased by 52% since 2019, with the upward trend continuing. Following the restriction, sources warned that airlines may seek alternative transit routes.

According to the outlet, a smaller section of airspace had already been closed as early as 2019, with officials at the time also citing requests from the astrophysical observatory. These temporary restrictions, designated “Abastumani 1,” were, however, practically extended indefinitely through 2025, according to the RFE/RL report, which said that the sole exception applied to aircraft flying to and from the Abastumani area, while the only helipad in the territory was reportedly owned by Ivanishvili.

‘Ivanishvili Whim’?

Various media and watchdog reports have documented major infrastructural changes in Abastumani, once a popular but later neglected health resort, since Ivanishvili took an interest in the resort around 2018.

Ivanishvili, currently a “honorary chairman” of the ruling Georgian Dream party, does not hold any formal government position.

RFE/RL cites earlier reports and concerns raised by corruption and environmental watchdogs regarding the state, as well as businesses linked to the billionaire, purchasing property and carrying out reconstruction in the area. Since 2020, Ivanishvili has “owned a private family residence in the mountain balneological resort spread along the southern slopes of the Meskheti Range,” according to the outlet, making Abastumani one of his several strongholds in Georgia.

Aleksandre Tevzadze, who has served as director of the Abastumani Astrophysical Observatory since 2025, has defended the restriction as “good news,” saying the facility has long requested such measures and arguing that the observatory requires a larger clearance zone than those imposed since 2019.

RFE/RL, however, has cited international practice regarding astrophysical observatories that do not usually resort to such radical “unlimited” vertical restrictions, while also noting that the level of restriction is “unprecedented” for Georgia, too.

“In international aviation practice, a restriction of the GND-UNL type (ground to unlimited altitude) is the highest level of safety measure and is almost never used over civilian facilities,” the report says.

Also Read:

• 09/12/2025 – TI-Georgia: Georgia Has Become Captured, Kleptocratic State

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