Georgia rejects media reports on possible EU sanctions against Kulevi Port as “entirely incomprehensible, unsubstantiated, lacking any factual basis”

The First Deputy Foreign Minister of Georgia Giorgi Zurabashvili on Thursday held a meeting with the Head of the European Union Delegation to Georgia, Ambassador Pawel Herczyński. The discussion focused on Georgia’s efforts to uphold EU-imposed restrictive measures against Russia and prevent any attempts to circumvent sanctions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported.

Zurabashvili outlined extensive steps taken by the Georgian Government and relevant agencies to monitor transit across the country’s territory, detect sanctioned actors, and counter circumvention schemes involving the so-called “shadow fleet”.

He noted that the Georgian Government was proactively sharing detailed reports on these efforts with EU institutions and other international partners.

Zurabashvili described media reports suggesting possible EU sanctions on the Kulevi oil terminal as completely unclear, lacking any factual basis, and unsupported by evidence - no sanctioned vessel has docked there, and no circumvention has been documented.

The First Deputy Minister pointed out that EU institutions have raised no questions or concerns about Kulevi’s operations, especially given years of strong cooperation and positive assessments from EU Sanctions Envoy David O’Sullivan.

The Georgian side expressed hope that EU bodies and member states would consider the country’s verifiable compliance record and refrain from restrictions that could undermine the Caspian-Black Sea-Europe corridor and the EU-backed Middle Corridor project, of which Kulevi remains a vital component.