Ruling party head alleges “anti-state goals” in opposition claims on Russia sanctions

Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday claimed the domestic “radical” opposition continued to “speculate” on the subject of the circumvention through Georgia of the international sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, saying the allegations served “anti-state goals”.

Kobakhidze said the visit of sanctions officials from the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States to the country in late June had “confirmed” there was no circumvention of the sanctions through the Georgian territory.

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Throughout this period, we have heard numerous claims of sanctions being circumvented. A technical team arrived, evaluated everything with documents, studied the situation on the ground in depth, and found that the sanctions were not circumvented in Georgia. Moreover, they found that dozens of attempts had been prevented by the [Georgian] authorities”, Kobakhidze said.

“In this situation, when certain forces continue to speculate - including the radical opposition - [...] it certainly speaks of their anti-state goals. They want to somehow harm the interests of the state”, the ruling party head concluded.

The Western sanctions officials who visited Georgia last month highlighted they had been “convinced” that the country’s Government was “seriously” determined not to allow the circumvention of sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.