Georgian Parliament Speaker slams “defamatory” claims, says no sanctions violations proven

Georgian Parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Friday said that despite various defamatory claims regarding Georgia, no evidence has been substantiated or presented to demonstrate any violation of sanctions within the country.

In response to a reporter’s question that a Georgian businessman plans to import coal and metal from Russian-occupied Donetsk and whether he sees a risk in circumventing sanctions, Papuashvili replied that there was no risk as it was impossible for any trade to take place due to the restrictions.

He further added that despite the EU's ungratefulness towards Georgia, the government was complying with the conditions of the sanctions only out of respect and support for the Ukrainian people.

“Once again, restrictions have been imposed. Despite the fact that there is slander regarding Georgia, not a single fact has been proven and no evidence has been brought that sanctions are being violated in Georgia. We adhere to these conditions despite the fact that the European Union is ungrateful towards Georgia. We see that there was an attempt to slander regarding Kulev. This is how they respond to our support”, the speaker said.

“You know that we have no obligation to comply with EU sanctions, but we provide all this only out of respect for the Ukrainian people, and not for Brussels, the Kyiv authorities. We see this ungratefulness, including the recent example of ungratefulness from Brussels, which was the slander regarding Kulev, which was proven to be an absolute lie. There was no evidence of any violation of sanctions, after which we did not even hear an apology from them”, he concluded.