BGEO's Bank of Georgia signs GEL 75m loan agreement

BGEO Group announced on Thursday that its banking subsidiary, JSC Bank of Georgia, has signed a GEL 75m (£22.06m) loan agreement with the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, with tranches up to five years duration.

The FTSE 250 company said the local currency loan facility would be used to finance the development of Georgian small and medium-size enterprises, which its board said reinforced the bank's commitment to support SMEs in Georgia and underpinned its leading position in the SME sector.

Black Sea Trade and Development Bank raised the local currency funds through a public placement of GEL-denominated bonds on the Georgian Stock Exchange, arranged by BGEO’s wholly owned brokerage subsidiary Galt & Taggart.

“I am very pleased that Bank of Georgia and our partner BSTDB have once again successfully co-operated on a local currency transaction,” said Bank of Georgia CEO Kaha Kiknavelidze.

“As the demand for GEL-denominated funding grows year over year we continue to leverage our long-term partnerships with development financial institutions to secure our customers the funding they need.

“I would like to thank BSTDB for supporting us in our aim to contribute to the further de-dollarisation of Georgia's economy.”