Finance Minister: linking individuals associated with Russia sanctions to Georgian state “speculation”

Georgian Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili on Friday said linking “any individual” associated with Western sanctions to the Georgian state was “speculation”, after the United States Department of State on Thursday announced sanctions on Otar Partskhaladze, the former Prosecutor General of Georgia, for “influencing Georgian society and politics for the benefit of Russia”.

Khutsishvili said Partskhaladze had not worked in state structures for 10 years, and added domestic authorities were working to study reasons for the sanctions on Partskhaladze.

He also stressed the Government was fulfilling sanctions imposed by its Western partners on Russia, with their efforts being “implemented very effectively” across the country.

• Georgian Parliament Speaker says US-sanctioned former Prosecutor General has had “no connection” to Gov’t for 10 years

Khutsishvili was asked whether the Ministry of Finance would begin studying activities of one of the companies founded by Partskhaladze in 2022 to identify whether he was helping Russia circumvent sanctions placed on the country for its invasion of Ukraine through the company.

The Minister said the State Department had not mentioned circumvention of the sanctions through the company in its announcement, adding the US body “could not have said such a thing, because it has not happened”.

The State Department said the former Prosecutor General was being designated with the status based on a section for operating or having operated in the management consulting sector of the Russian Federation economy.

It said Aleksandr Onishchenko, an officer of Russia’s security agency FSB who has also been sanctioned, had “likely assisted his associate Partskhaladze in obtaining a Russian passport and possibly Russian citizenship”. The US state body added the former Georgian Prosecutor General had “fully taken on a Russian identity and routinely travels to Russia”. 

Onishchenko and the FSB have leveraged Partskhaladze to influence Georgian society and politics for the benefit of Russia.  Partskhaladze has reportedly personally profited from his FSB connection”, said the Department.

Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller on Friday also said “no sanction” imposed by the United States on an individual could change its relations with Georgia and the “strategic partnership” established between the two states over the last 30 years that was aimed for Georgia’s “full integration into the Euro-Atlantic family”.