Page 64 - GEORptMay21

difficult situation surrounding COVID-19," the airline said in a statement.
From February 1, restrictions on regular air traffic in Georgia were lifted, but passenger flows remain quite low.
Ryanair’s decision to not resume flights this year will be one impediment to the recovery of Georgia's key tourism industry.
In 2020, prior to the pandemic lockdown, Ryanair served 21,323 passengers in relation to Georgia. The company flew from Tbilisi and Kutaisi airports to Bologna and Marseille.
9.2.3 TMT corporate news
Azerbaijan's Neqsol takes full but disputed control over Georgian internet provider Caucasus Online
Georgia has a second billionaire following LSE listing of Kazakh fintech Kaspi
Bidzina Ivanishvili is no longer the only Georgian on the Forbes’ list of billionaires, for the London Stock Exchange IPO of Kazakh fintech Kaspi.kz has made a billionaire of Mikheil Lomtadze.
With a fortune of $3.8bn, Lomtadze, co-founder and CEO of the bank turned fintech, has placed 812th on the ranking.
Last October, Kaspi.kv, a retail and fintech unicorn, made headlines around the world after successfully listing with a $6bn valuation.
The two most important players at Kaspi are its chairman, Vyacheslav Kim and Lomtadze, whose stakes amount to 25% and 23%, respectively. Forbes concluded that both Kim and Lomtadze became billionaires as a result of the listing.
Kaspi reported $1.3bn in revenue in 2019, while its net profit for the same year was $515mn. In the first half of 2020, the group generated revenue of $740mn and a net profit of $286mn.
Kaspi is the largest tax and financial technology company in Kazakhstan. It has more than seven million subscribers.
It allows customers to pay their bills digitally, trade and, just as with Paypal and Klarna, perform "Buy Now - Pay Later" transactions. Lomtadze was born in 1975 in Batumi. He received a bachelor's degree from the European School of Management in Tbilisi and then continued his studies at Harvard Business School, where he received a master's degree.
Lomtadze has worked in Georgia and Russia. In 2008 he became head of Kaspi Bank. He arrived at the bank that would become Kaspi as its CEO following an investment in the bank by Baring Vostok, where Lomtadze was a partner, Forbes explained, quoting Kaspi's spokesman. Lomtadze “built” Kaspi, the spokesman added, saying that “it’s quite common for entrepreneurial founders to own large equity stakes in their businesses”. Georgia’s, until now, sole billionaire Ivanishvili has a fortune of $4.8bn and is the 600th richest person in the world, according to Forbes. Lomtadze is closing in.
Azerbaijan’s Neqsol Holding, owned by businessman Nasib Hasanov, has taken full ownership of Georgian internet provider Caucasus Online after purchasing the 51% stake it did not hold.
The former owner of Caucasus Online, Khvicha Makatsaria, reportedly transferred the stake to Hasanov a few days ago. He sold Hasanov a 49% stake for $61mn back in 2019.
The deal, involving British Virgin Island offshore companies, was not reported to the Georgian National Communication Commission (GNCC)—it claimed in a statement that Hasanov has become the “illegal owner” of Caucasus Online. Last September, the GNCC denied the "prior consent" required by Hasanov’s Bakcell, the owner of Neqsol, to acquire 100% of Caucasus Online.
GNCC’s decision not to allow Makatsaria to sell Caucasus Online to Hasanov
64 GEORGIA Country Report May 2021 www.intellinews.com