BGEO's Bank of Georgia draws down second loan to support SMEs

BGEO Group's banking arm has drawn down 135m Georgian lari (£38.5m) from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

This was the second loan of five-year-maturity tranche agreed by JSC Bank of Georgia with the EBRD with the aim of supporting micro, small and medium sized enterprises in their alignment with the European Union's free trade agreement requirements, as well as companies led by women.

EBRD raised the local currency funds through a private placement of lari-denominated bonds arranged by Galt & Taggart, the BGEO's wholly owned brokerage subsidiary. As a result, total funds attracted by the Bank through this EBRD local currency facility now total GEL 242m.

Kaha Kiknavelidze, chief executive of the bank, said: "We are currently achieving strong levels of local currency lending growth, and this GEL-denominated funding and its accompanying incentives offered by EBRD will continue to successfully serve the on-going de-dollarisation of the Georgian economy and benefit local businesses in gaining further access to tailor-made financial products."