UPDATE 1-Bank of Georgia acquires Belarusian bank for $34 mln

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TBILISI, May 13 (Reuters) - Bank of Georgia (BGEOq.L: Quote, Profile, Research), Georgia's largest bank by assets, agreed on Tuesday to pay $34.2 million for a 70 percent stake in Belarusian Narodny Bank.

"It's a medium-sized bank and it has made a very good impression on us," Nika Enukidze, chairman of the supervisory board at Bank of Georgia, told Reuters.

He said Bank of Georgia also bought an option to acquire the remaining 30 percent stake within the next three years.

Bank of Georgia is the only Georgian lender listed on the London Stock Exchange. It raised $160 million in an initial public offering in November 2006 and net profit last year almost tripled to 75.4 million lari ($47.7 million).

Belarusian Narodny Bank was established in 1991. Its total assets by Dec. 31, 2007 were $48.9 million. The bank has four branches and its head office is in the capital, Minsk.

Bank of Georgia bought a 98.77 percent stake in Ukraine's Universal Bank for Development and Partnership last year for $81.7 million. (Reporting by Margarita Antidze, editing by Robin Paxton)