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Georgia’s Ombudsman finds no money laundering elements in TBC CEO case
operations in Uzbekistan by the summer. In December, TBC launched trial point-of-sale consumer financing operations in the Central Asian nation, with the financing of consumer products primarily in the electronics and furniture markets the main objective. In parallel, the bank is actively developing its payments business in the country, through a recently acquired subsidiary, Payme, the leading payments company in Uzbekistan, which already serves around 1.8mn customers.
As previously announced, TBC PLC’s strategy is to develop a greenfield, next-generation banking ecosystem for retail and MSME customers in Uzbekistan. The primary focus will be on digital channels, including under a newly developed product, Space.
With a population of 33mn, Uzbekistan is is the most populous and fastest growing country in Central Asia, with a low but growing penetration of banking products. Its retail loans to GDP ratio was only 6.0% at the end of 2018. Tashkent is on the right track in terms of reforms and introducing innovations, said Giorgi Shagidze, deputy general manager of TBC Bank, in ​an interview given to BMG.
For the Uzbek venture, TBC said that it was planning to join forces with international financial institutions and a local partner, while retaining a minimum 51% shareholding.
TBC said that it has already secured interest from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Financial Corporation (IFC) and has reached an agreement on main terms with the Uzbek-Oman Investment Company to act as a local partner. The total amount of the initial investment from all the shareholders will be $40mn.
"This is a very significant milestone and brings us closer to the launch of our banking operations in the Uzbek market,” Vakhtang Butskhrikidze, chief executive officer of TBC Bank, commented. “We are very excited about this journey, which is a critical part of our international expansion strategy. I want to take the opportunity to thank the Uzbek authorities for their trust and express deep gratitude to our team working on the Uzbek project for their outstanding effort and diligence.”
Georgia’s Ombudsman Nino Lomjaria, in addressing Tbilisi City Court as a friend of the court (​amicus curiae​) over allegations made against TBC Bank co-founders Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, stressed that “the case materials do not contain the elements necessary for assessing an action as a crime of money laundering”, Civil.ge has reported.
The ombudsman’s statement strictly dealt with the offence of money laundering and not other possible financial crimes the case might involve. Prosecutors started investigations in the case involving Khazaradze and Japaridze, which focuses on activities in 2008, in autumn 2018. The Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into money laundering of up to $16.6mn on August 2, 2018, after the Georgian Financial Monitoring Service sent it a written note on a possible violation in 2007 -2008.
The two rejected the charges and linked the TBC case to the construction of Anaklia deep water port, suggesting that the purpose of the investigation could be to squeeze Khazaradze and Japaridze out of the project. It was awarded in
35​ GEORGIA Country Report​ February 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com