Georgia is preparing to tighten its immigration rules following a sharp increase in the number of applications for residence permits based on marriage to a Georgian citizen.
According to the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the number of applications for residence permits based on marriage tripled in the first quarter of 2026. Authorities believe this trend may indicate abuse of the system and the use of sham marriages to legalize one’s stay in the country.
The new amendments provide for the creation of a separate type of residence permit for spouses of Georgian citizens. Before issuing such a document, the state will verify the authenticity of the marriage through a special commission. This residence permit will remain valid until the applicant is eligible to receive a permanent residence permit.
In addition, Georgia plans to criminalize sham marriages entered into for the purpose of obtaining citizenship, a residence permit, or any other legal basis for staying in the country. Possible penalties include deportation of the foreign national, a re-entry ban for a period of two to ten years, a fine, house arrest for a period of one to two years, or imprisonment for up to two years.
The amendments also expand the powers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Migration Department. It is planned to grant the department the right to conduct operational and investigative activities to detect illegal migration and abuses of migration procedures.
A separate set of changes concerns foreign students. The authorities intend to introduce additional requirements for admission to Georgian higher education institutions and vocational schools, including an international language certificate or passing a language exam. There are also plans to set maximum quotas for the admission of foreign students, and educational institutions will be required to enter information about them into a unified information system.
Georgia explains the reform as necessary to make the migration system more transparent, secure, and manageable. The authorities note that current rules do not always allow for effective monitoring of whether foreigners are actually studying, are in genuine marriages, or are using these grounds merely as a formality.
The issue of migration has become particularly sensitive for Georgia since 2022, when the country accepted a significant number of foreigners from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and other countries. At the same time, the composition of the foreign population in the country is diverse: some migrants are there due to relocation, some for educational purposes, and others are people of Georgian origin who have already obtained foreign citizenship and have returned.
According to data released by Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze in February 2026, the country issued 107,307 thousand residence permits to citizens of 164 countries. Russian citizens accounted for 32,129 thousand permits, or 29.9% of the total. The authorities clarified that a significant portion of this group consists of former Georgian citizens or people of Georgian descent.
The second-largest group of residence permit holders consists of Indian citizens: 23,930 thousand people, mostly students. Next are citizens of Azerbaijan and Ukraine—6,290 thousand people, or 5.9 percent—followed by Armenia (over 5 thousand), Belarus (3,738 thousand), Turkey (3,645 thousand), and Iran (3,331 thousand). Other notable groups include citizens of Sudan, China, Jordan, Pakistan, Egypt, and the United States.
Separately, there are Ukrainians living in Georgia without a regular residence permit. According to Kobakhidze, up to 25,000 Ukrainians are in the country with de facto refugee status, and the total number of Ukrainians in Georgia is estimated at approximately 30,000 people.
According to preliminary census data, the total number of foreigners residing in Georgia—including both legal and illegal migrants—is estimated at approximately 257,000 people. More than 70% of foreigners, according to government estimates, come from post-Soviet countries, the EU, the United States, and Israel.
Thus, the tightening of rules regarding marriage and student residence permits is part of a broader restructuring of Georgia’s migration policy. The country is seeking to remain open to businesspeople, students, and expatriates, while at the same time strengthening control over the grounds for foreigners’ residence and reducing the number of formal legalization schemes.
Enterprises engaged in operations with ferrous metal scrap called for lifting the de facto ban on scrap exports from Ukraine and introducing quotas for supplies of this raw material to EU countries in the amount of 200,000 tonnes per year.
This position was voiced by business representatives at the press conference “Ukraine’s Scrap Market: Between the Needs of the Economy and Regulatory Uncertainty” at the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Friday.
President of the Ukrainian Association of Secondary Metals (“UAVtormet”) Volodymyr Bublei noted that steel production over the first 5 months of the current year decreased by 6%, while scrap consumption fell by 7.6%, to 604,000 tonnes. Because of this, the country lost EUR60 million in foreign currency revenue, and tax revenues to the state budget decreased accordingly.
According to him, due to the ban on scrap exports, scrap prices on the domestic market fell. Thus, Ukrzaliznytsia sold scrap this year at a price of UAH 5,500, whereas in 2025 the average price was UAH 8,500 per tonne. When selling 50,000 tonnes of scrap, UZ lost UAH 3,000 on each tonne.
“Consumers are now selling scrap on the domestic market at $160-165 per tonne, while entrepreneurs in the EU pay $360 per tonne. Thus, we lose an average of $200,” Bublei stated.
He proposed holding a meeting at the government level in order to sort out the situation on the market and draw up a balance of scrap consumption. In addition, he considers plans to increase VAT on scrap operations to be wrong.
General Director of Ukrmet-Invest LLC Serhii Vovk noted that his company dismissed 150 employees because of the de facto ban on scrap exports.
“Of 18 divisions, 6 remain, the rest have been put up for sale because of million-scale losses. Previously, we supplied 5-6,000 tonnes of scrap to the market, now it is 2,000 tonnes. The scrap procurement sector accordingly reduced payments to the budget. Overall, the state lost more than UAH 500 million in budget revenues,” Vovk said.
General Director of the UKRMET Group of Companies Vladyslav Kleshchynskyi noted that after the de facto closure of scrap exports, the industry “broke down.”
“We closed two terminals, a port and 10 sites. But the industry should not be closed when there is no possibility to sell products on the domestic market. A compromise solution is to introduce an export quota of up to 200,000 tonnes for scrap supplies to the EU,” Kleshchynskyi said.
Development Director of Mirten LLC Mykola Klymovych appealed to the government: “We are not demanding benefits or assistance – give us the opportunity to work under market conditions.”
Earlier, head of UAVtormet Volodymyr Bublei stated that as a result of the introduction from January 1 of the current year of a zero quota for the export of ferrous metal scrap, the scrap procurement industry is losing its potential, reducing raw material procurement and being forced to cut employees.
As reported, Ukraine’s scrap procurement enterprises in 2025 increased the export of ferrous metal scrap by 45.3% compared with the previous year – to 448,685 tonnes from 293,190 tonnes. In monetary terms, scrap exports in 2025 grew by 44.5% – to $131.927 million from $91.311 million. Scrap exports during the specified period were formally carried out mainly to Poland (75.42% of supplies in monetary terms), Greece (10.19%) and Italy (6.65%).
In connection with the sharp growth in exports of strategic raw materials from Ukraine, the Ministry of Economy initiated the introduction of a licensing and quota regime for scrap exports with the establishment of a zero quota volume. The government introduced a zero export quota for 2026 for exports of ferrous metal scrap.
Ukraine’s scrap procurement enterprises in 2024 increased exports of ferrous metal scrap by 60.7% compared with 2023 – to 293,190 tonnes from 182,465 tonnes. In monetary terms, scrap exports over the year grew by 73.2% – to $91.311 million from $52.723 million.
SCRAP_METAL, SERHII_VOVK, VLADYSLAV_KLESHCHYNSKYI, VOLODYMYR_BUBLEI, МИКОЛА_КЛИМОВИЧ
Ukraine’s retail trade turnover in January–May 2026 increased by 9.2% compared to the same period in 2025, according to the State Statistics Service (SSS).
According to its data, in nominal terms, retail trade turnover for the first five months of this year amounted to 1.19 trillion UAH.
Retail trade turnover in May increased by 5.2% compared to April of this year, and by 10.9% year-over-year compared to May 2025.
Derzhstat notes that the turnover of retail trade enterprises (legal entities) in January–May 2026 increased by 9.3% compared to January–May 2025 and amounted to 0.83 trillion hryvnias.
At the same time, retail trade turnover for retail enterprises rose by 5.2% in May compared to April of this year.
According to the statistics agency, retail trade turnover in Ukraine grew by 7.5% in 2025.
The State Statistics Service notes that the data does not include territories temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation or parts of the country where hostilities are (or were) taking place.
ENTERPRISE, RETAIL TRADE, State Statistics Service, TURNOVER, UKRAINE
Carlo Formosa, the Italian Ambassador to Ukraine, met with representatives of Italian companies already operating in Ukraine, as well as with businesses implementing new projects in the country, according to a statement from the Italian Embassy in Ukraine.
“An opportunity to pool experience, contacts, and knowledge, establish new connections, and strengthen Italy’s presence in Ukraine,” the embassy’s Facebook post states.
The event served as a platform for exchanging experience, establishing new contacts, and strengthening cooperation among Italian companies operating in the Ukrainian market.
The embassy noted that the meeting took place following a series of webinars involving over 1,000 Italian companies and was aimed at further strengthening a cohesive and coordinated business community.
Particular attention was paid to the activities of the Italian Business Association (IBA), established several months ago at the embassy’s initiative to enhance the visibility and unifying potential of Italian business in Ukraine.
“The Embassy continues to facilitate dialogue between businesses and institutions, encouraging the exchange of expertise and the coordination of efforts within the ‘System Italy’ to support Italy’s economic presence in Ukraine,” the post states.
On June 25, the “Delta-Lotzman” branch of the state-owned enterprise “Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority” announced a tender for voluntary health insurance services. According to the Prozorro electronic public procurement system, the estimated cost is 8.360 million UAH. Documents for participation in the tender will be accepted until July 10.
The state-owned enterprise “Delta-Lotzman” was established by order of the Ministry of Transport of Ukraine in 1998 with the aim of improving conditions for ensuring the safety of navigation, protecting human life at sea and the environment, in Ukraine’s territorial waters in accordance with the requirements of international agreements and conventions, as well as to streamline the structure of maritime pilotage services in the northwest.
According to Fixygen, the cryptocurrency market is ending the week on a down note: Bitcoin has once again fallen below the psychological $60,000 level, Ether has approached $1,550, and most major altcoins are trading under pressure amid capital outflows from crypto ETFs, harsher expectations regarding Fed interest rates, and a strengthening dollar.
As of Thursday and Friday, Bitcoin was trading around $59,200, down approximately 3% over the past 24 hours.
The intraday low was around $58,200. Ether fell to $1,550, losing about 5.5% over the day, while Solana held steady around $68–69.
The week marked a continuation of June’s weak performance. Earlier this month, Bitcoin was trading above $70,000, but the market then faced a series of negative factors: record or near-record outflows from U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, growing investor interest in stocks of companies related to artificial intelligence, a strengthening U.S. dollar, and deteriorating sentiment surrounding major corporate Bitcoin holders.
This week, the pressure intensified after Bitcoin once again fell below $60,000. CoinDesk noted that the cryptocurrency’s decline is occurring even amid periodic gains in other risky assets, as capital continues to flow into the technology and AI segments of the stock market. According to CoinDesk, Deutsche Bank attributed Bitcoin’s drop below $60,000 to the Fed’s hawkish rhetoric, outflows from ETFs, and concerns surrounding companies with high Bitcoin exposure.
Ethereum has also failed to serve as a safe-haven asset within the crypto market. Trading at around $1,550, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization remains under pressure alongside the broader market. The decline in ether indicates that investors are currently reducing their exposure to crypto assets in general, not just bitcoin.
Solana appeared slightly more resilient intraday, but the overall sentiment for altcoins remains weak. When Bitcoin falls below key levels, investors typically reduce their positions in riskier tokens faster than in the market’s core assets.
The dynamics of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. remain a separate factor. In June, the market already experienced several waves of outflows from funds that had previously been one of the main sources of demand for Bitcoin. When ETFs stop supporting the market with inflows, Bitcoin becomes more sensitive to macroeconomic data, yields, the dollar, and overall risk appetite.
Globally, cryptocurrencies are now competing for capital not only with traditional assets but also with the AI sector. Reuters previously noted that investors are increasingly shifting funds toward AI-related stocks and anticipated major IPOs, while bitcoin is experiencing one of its weakest starts to the year in the past decade.
Through the end of the week, the key technical level for Bitcoin remains the $58,000–$60,000 range. Holding this range could give the market a chance to stabilize, but a sustained move below $58,000 would reinforce expectations of a further decline. In this case, the next area of focus could be $55,000, which some analysts view as a potential level for a local bottom to form.
The base case scenario for the coming days is heightened volatility and cautious attempts at stabilization following the sharp decline. For a sustained recovery, the market will need a combination of several factors: an end to outflows from ETFs, a weaker dollar, softer expectations regarding Fed interest rates, and a return of risk appetite for crypto assets.
For now, the crypto market remains in defensive trade mode: investors prefer to reduce their exposure, cut their losses, or wait for new signals from ETF flows and the U.S. macroeconomy.
