Georgian Railway dismisses media reports on sanctioned cargo in Batumi as “fake”
Georgian Railway on Thursday dismissed reports on an alleged presence of railway freight in Batumi subject to international sanctions. Photo: Georgian Railway press office
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Georgian Railway on Thursday dismissed reports by opposition-minded TV channels on an alleged presence of railway freight subject to international sanctions on Russia in Georgia’s western city of Batumi as “fake”.
In rejecting the information, the company said the freight carriages in question carried fuel oil belonging to a Kazakh company.
It also explained the type of carriages featured in the report were used by “several Central Asian countries” to transport oil products to Europe via Georgia, naming Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan as examples of countries where companies operate the type of rolling stock.
“Georgia is a transit country in such cases”, the company said, adding domestic authorities had “never carried” sanctioned cargo, allowed passage of sanctioned freight, or that owned by individuals under the international sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
The revenue service of the ministry of finance of Georgia on Monday responded to media reports alleging an import to Georgia of thousands of tonnes of petrol from a company sanctioned under the international community’s measures against Russia, rejecting the claims as “disinformation”.
Georgian Railway on Saturday said it was raising the fare on the double-decker passenger train service between Georgia’s capital of Tbilisi and the Black Sea city of Batumi.
Customs authorities in the Black Sea port of Batumi have rejected services to a freight ship sailing under the Turkish flag and carrying oil products from a company hit by the international community’s sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, the Revenue Service of Georgia announced on Monday.
Georgian Railway reported a profit of ₾52,711 ($18,399/€17,179) in 2021 following four years of operating losses, as part of a new financial statement of the company.
Georgia's revenue service on Friday responded to media reports on nuclear material being transported across the country last month by explaining a railway freight shipment of products by a Kazakh company had transited through the country on its destination in Canada.