TBC Bank is one of Georgia's two biggest commercial banks and is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The $1 million round was completed by a group of eight venture capitalists and investment funds based in various countries, including the U.S., Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Singapore.

It was not immediately clear whether Moscow's forces had formally moved into the parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk region controlled by separatists – most analysts and Ukrainian officials have said that some Russian forces have long been informally established inside them.

It appears that Berdymukhamedov is taking full account of lessons in nearby Kazakhstan – plunged into deadly riots last month two years after a managed transfer of power.