Georgian Parliament official says Kulevi Oil Terminal removal confirms country’s compliance with EU sanctions

Levan Makhashvili, the chair of the Georgian Parliament’s European integration committee, on Tuesday said the removal of the Kulevi Oil Terminal from the European Union’s 20th sanctions package confirmed that the Georgian authorities were faithfully implementing sanctions policy.

In his remarks, Makhashvili noted that Georgia had been subjected to a manipulative campaign suggesting the country was violating sanctions.

“The entire process confirms only one thing - that Georgia is faithfully complying with the sanctions policy”, he said.

The official added that Georgia had adhered to the established rules and would continue to do so in the future.

“Georgia has respected and will continue to respect the rules that have been established. We will do this unilaterally, based on our goodwill, out of respect for the Ukrainian people. We saw that there was a completely unrestrained campaign against Georgia, claiming that the country or one of its ports was violating sanctions policy. It became clear that all this information was manipulation - nothing more than rumours spread by certain ambassadors or other individuals”, Makhashvili concluded.

The European Union has removed the Kulevi Oil Terminal from its 20th sanctions package against Russia, while welcoming Georgia’s efforts to ensure compliance with sanctions.