Georgian Parliament Speaker: Kulevi oil refinery decision shows Brussels ready to exert illegal pressure on businesses

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Saturday said that the European Union’s decision to include the Kulevi oil refinery in its 21st sanctions package confirms that Brussels was prepared to exert what he described as illegal pressure on businesses.

In his remarks, Papuashvili noted certain foreign representatives had sought to prevent the import and processing of Russian oil in Georgia even though the products in question were not subject to sanctions.

“The public has seen very clearly what we are dealing with. What we were saying has been confirmed - neither at the port nor at the plant in Kulevi was there any violation of sanctions. They could not even say that any sanction had been violated. In reality, what we are dealing with is this: certain forces wanted to restrict the entry of non-sanctioned Russian oil into Georgia, and this is the business that this particular enterprise was engaged in and was processing, including Russian oil products. They wanted to restrict it in such a way that it would not be included in the sanctions”, he said.

He argued that, if such imports were to be prohibited, they should first be formally sanctioned.

“We told them at the time that if they wanted to restrict something, they should include it in the sanctions, say that the import of oil from Russia is prohibited and sanctioned, and the Georgian state would ensure that this does not happen. But what did they tell us? The British ambassador and the EU envoys went door to door and told us that they would not impose sanctions”, Papuashvili noted.

“They themselves do not impose sanctions because they themselves buy oil from Russia very well, but they were telling us: force the businessmen not to import oil. We told them that it is impossible in a state governed by the rule of law to ban business activity that is permitted by law. That would have meant that we would have to exert illegal pressure on business”, he continued.

The Speaker further noted that the Georgian Government refused to pressure businesses through measures that would violate the Constitution or the law.

“We told them that the state would not do this, because this is not Saakashvili’s regime, so they could say whatever they wanted and it would be done”, he stressed.

“When they saw that the state does not intend to illegally restrict business and exert pressure through non-legal means, they themselves exerted this pressure. They have direct communication with this business. The representatives of this business ultimately decided that instead of Russian oil they would replace it with other oil. That is their business decision, but the fact is that the Georgian state said that it will not interfere in business by violating the Constitution and the law”, Papuashvili concluded.