The Ministry of Finance of Georgia is responding to the footage made by Keir Hardie Brennan-Simmons, an NBC News journalist and a citizen of Great Britain on February 24 in Georgia, by clarifying the following:

“Author claims in the footage that “President Putin’s supply line runs through Georgia” and “if you want to know how the Russian economy is surviving amidst punishing western sanctions, you might come here [Georgia]”. This opinion is an utter lie and disinformation directed against the country.

Once again, we categorically state that Georgia fully and firmly adheres to the procedures for the enforcement of international sanctions and there is no single fact evidencing the opposite.

All opinions expressed on this topic during the last year, including those aired in international media, as well as voiced by some local and foreign politicians, are mere assumptions and speculations.

From the very first days of international sanctions, a designated taskforce was created within the Revenue Service of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia, which is mandated to carry out centralized control over the enforcement of the referred sanctions.

During the referred timeline, risk profiles were built, on the grounds of which the movement of prohibited commodities to the customs territory of Georgia by sanctioned individuals and companies, as well as transit, export and re-export procedures, are identified and controlled in the most efficient manner.

In addition, the necessary equipment for customs control, including X-Ray Scanners, were installed in addition to the existing ones at the Customs Checkpoint Kazbegi. Also, the capacity of other Customs Checkpoints was augmented to implement the appropriate control measures.

At the recommendation of the US Department of State, the Revenue Service of Georgia was granted access to the training platform on international sanctions - DOLFIN. Currently, 2 employees of the Customs Department within the Revenue Service have already qualified for Expert Certificates.

It should be noted that the Customs Checkpoint Kazbegi is one of the shortest land routes between Russia and Armenia within the scope of international shipments. Also, the referred road connects Turkey with Russia and this entire transit corridor is strictly controlled on the Russian-Georgian border and our international partners are informed about all relevant procedures.

In connection with the current developments in Ukraine, the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and other countries engaged in the economic sanctions have decided to impose restrictions on the trade of certain goods with the Russian Federation and Belarus. Among them, the sanctions also affect the import of cars from the mentioned countries into Russia or Belarus. However, in these cases, for the cargo to be considered sanctioned, the value of the vehicle must be over 50 000 USD (according to the US sanctions) or 50 000 Euros and higher (according to the sanctions imposed by the Council of Europe). The aforementioned restriction is subject to strict monitoring/enforcement by the Revenue Service of Georgia (it should be noted that the ban does not apply to light vehicles that are in private property of individuals, kept for their personal use and not intended for sale).

As for the ink for the copying machines and printers mentioned in the same footage - even if they originated from the USA or the EU, the referred goods are not included in the list of sanctioned items by either USA, Europe or other countries engaged in sanctions. Therefore, we could not restrict their movement.

Also, rows of trucks depicted in the footage can be explained by the following: during the winter period as heavy snowfall and the danger of avalanches may occur, the movement of vehicles on the Mtskheta-Stefantsminda-Larsi highway, Gudauri-Kobi section gets periodically delayed.

Due to this, the Kazbegi Customs Checkpoint in the Darial Valley often has to operate in an emergency mode. After the improvement of the weather conditions, the Customs Checkpoint resumes its usual operation at full capacity and vehicles in queue start to move smoothly towards the countries of their destination.

Regarding the tunnel of international significance, it is very unfortunate that the author of the footage did not mention that this project is financed by reputable international donor institutions - Asian Development Bank and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. In February 2019, an international tender was announced for the project in full accordance with the rules of the international financial institutions mentioned above and the contractor was selected in strict compliance with the referred rules. Therefore, it is awkward to link it with an attempt of evading sanctions in view of Russia, especially since this project was approved several years ago - before the Russia-Ukraine war.

It is true pity that the author of the footage did not make any attempt of communication with state agencies with relevant competences, who would have provided greater clarity about the situation created at the Kazbegi Customs Checkpoint as well as on the customs control procedures promulgated in the legislation of Georgia, which is quite startling from an international media outlet.

Therefore, we may say that it was a vividly unprofessional and biased footage, which was once again used to discredit Georgia and it is categorically unacceptable for us.

The Revenue Service of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia once again urges everyone at both local and international media to get in touch with state agencies that are directly involved in this process to make sure that they get real information about the procedures of international sanctions enforced in Georgia”, - reads the statement.