Governor of the National Bank of Georgia, Natia Turnava, took part in the 4th International Conference on Competition and Consumer Protection.

The event was jointly organized by the Competition and Consumer Protection Agency, the National Bank of Georgia, GNERC, the State Insurance Supervision Service, and the Communications Commission. The conference was attended by delegations from around 20 countries, representatives of international organizations (World Bank, UNCTAD, OECD, ICN, ICPEN, Consumers International), as well as members of the local sector.

During the panel discussion, Natia Turnava spoke about the NBG’s role and progress in promoting competition and protecting consumer rights.

According to her, the NBG’s objective in this area is not only to maintain financial stability but also to ensure fairness and transparency in the market.

“For us, maintaining the right balance is essential. On the one hand, the stability of the financial system; on the other, the promotion of competition. The NBG’s policy is based precisely on the synthesis of these two directions,” she noted.

One of the key highlights of Turnava’s address was the importance of financial education in the context of consumer protection.

“An informed consumer is the most protected consumer. This is why we place particular emphasis on financial education programs, including those for young people, to ensure that from an early age they gain the knowledge and skills needed to defend their rights,” the Governor of the NBG stated.

Turnava emphasized that in recent years, the activities of the Consumer Rights Protection Department at the NBG have been strengthened, with the addition of a market conduct supervision function. These changes enable more proactive, risk-based monitoring of commercial banks, microfinance institutions, and other financial entities.

She also highlighted the work of the Dispute Resolution Commission operating within the NBG, which reviews consumer complaints in the payments sector.

“Over the past two years, the Commission has received 91 complaints, more than half of which were resolved in favor of consumers. In total, more than GEL 600,000 has been reimbursed to customers,” Turnava said.

She drew particular attention to the issue of access to finance for women entrepreneurs. According to her, a new program is being implemented in cooperation with the World Bank, aimed at creating additional financial opportunities for women-led businesses.

The International Conference on Competition and Consumer Protection aims to strengthen competition policy, improve mechanisms for protecting consumer rights, and deepen international cooperation in this field.