Practical guides, updates, and local knowledge for expats across Georgia.
Georgian police seized 148 cryptocurrency mining devices in Mestia municipality, in what officials describe as the first raid on illegal mining operations in the area.
The Youth Olympic Festival opened at Batumi’s Dynamo Arena with more than 1,200 young athletes from 12 Georgian regions competing in the city until 6 June.
Domino’s Pizza will open its first Batumi restaurant on 14 June at Porto Point on Chavchavadze Street, offering delivery and dine-in from next month.
Construction is nearing completion on an expansion at Batumi’s Republican Hospital, adding a crisis coordination centre, an updated polyclinic and additional inpatient facilities.
The State Security Service detained two Georgian citizens on espionage allegations in one day, including NGO figures named in official statements as suspected of passing intelligence to foreign services.
Georgia plans to sell about 40,000 bottles of historic French and Georgian wine once held in Joseph Stalin’s cellar, with proceeds earmarked for a new wine education school.
FlyOne will start twice-weekly direct flights between Chisinau and Batumi on 28 June, operating on Thursdays and Sundays with tickets now on sale.
Batumi collected 15.3 million GEL from gambling businesses in January–March 2026, slightly below the 16.8 million GEL recorded in the same quarter of 2025.
The fifth Tbilisi Gastro Week runs from 31 May to 7 June 2026, bringing international chefs, sommeliers and wine tastings to the capital with events across Tbilisi and Kakheti.
The 19th Black Sea Jazz Festival will run in Batumi from 10–12 July 2026 at the Tennis Club, with Miles Electric Band, Eric Benét and Ghost-Note headlining.
Georgia's Agriculture Committee will form a working group with the National Academy of Sciences to study mountain beer and other brewing heritage.
Guides, tour operators and travel agencies in Georgia must now register with the National Tourism Administration instead of the economic register, with fines from 500 GEL for unlicensed work.
Russia’s State Duma has adopted legislation that can allow seizure of property from citizens living abroad for acts deemed against the country’s interests, including criticism of the army from overseas.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio congratulated Georgians on Independence Day and pointed to new chances to deepen friendship and shared security and prosperity.
FlyOne Armenia is starting regular direct flights between Yerevan and Batumi on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, with about one hour in the air.
Stablecoin issuer Tether has begun operations in Georgia and announced GELt, a digital lari pegged one-to-one to the GEL, with the National Bank welcoming the move.
Galt & Taggart expects tourism from Azerbaijan to bring up to $200 million to Georgia in the second half of 2026 as the Baku–Tbilisi railway returns to daily service on 26 May.
Member countries voted at the 53rd Interpol European Regional Conference in Toledo for Georgia to host the 54th meeting in 2027.
Metropolitan Shio became Patriarch Shio III on 12 May 2026 at Svetitskhoveli — the first enthronement in nearly 50 years, marking a generational transition for the Georgian Orthodox Church.
May 26 is a public holiday nationwide; in Batumi, events near Alphabet Tower run from 11:00 with an URSA concert at 20:00.
Cybercrime cases in Georgia rose from 139 in 2020 to 246 in 2025; courts confiscated more than 3.78 million GEL from convicted cybercriminals last year.
Georgia's migration police detained 46 foreign nationals during nationwide checks; deportation procedures are underway after they were found in the country illegally.
Georgia and Kazakhstan will expand interior ministry cooperation on transnational crime, cyber security and special unit training after talks in Tbilisi.
Georgia is launching an online portal to monitor weekly supermarket discounts on 15 basic goods, with major chains reporting their best prices.
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