Georgian Parliament official: removal of Kulevi Oil Terminal from sanctions package exposes “smear campaign” against Georgia

Nikoloz Samkharadze, the chair of the foreign relations committee of the Georgian Parliament, on Tuesday said the removal of the Kulevi Oil Terminal from the European Union’s 20th sanctions package against Russia exposed a long-standing “slanderous campaign” against Georgia.

Samkharadze’s comments came after the European Union decided to remove Georgia’s Kulevi Oil Terminal from the bloc’s 20th package of sanctions against Russia, following commitments made by the Georgian government and the port’s operator.

Speaking with journalists, Samkharadze argued that for over four years, a “cloud of disinformation” has been deliberately created to falsely accuse Georgia of helping Russia circumvent international sanctions.

“The removal of the Kulevi Oil Terminal from the 20th sanctions package confirmed that a slanderous campaign against Georgia has been underway”, the official said.

He further argued that the false claims about Georgia’s role were so poor in quality that even those spreading them had to retreat and reverse their position.

“Now it turns out we are supposedly helping Iran, and perhaps Venezuela, Nicaragua, and who knows who else. All of this is such a low-quality lie that eventually, they [the accusers] have to deny it themselves and take it all back”, Samkharadze concluded.