The Revenue Service has labeled the information disseminated by Levan Khabeishvili, Chairman of the Political Council of the “United National Movement,” as disinformation.

As stated in the announcement released by the Revenue Service, a ship sailing under the Indonesian flag entered the Port of Batumi on August 3. However, screening conducted by the Maritime Transport Agency confirmed that neither the vessel nor its owning company is subject to international sanctions — and the cargo is also not subject to sanctions.

“For the purpose of informing the public, the Revenue Service of the Ministry of Finance once again emphatically states that the unverified information spread by the Chairman of the Political Council of the ‘United National Movement,’ Levan Khabeishvili, on social media — including claims from 2022 about an allegedly ‘escaped’ vessel loaded with sanctioned fuel — is yet another piece of disinformation.

Levan Khabeishvili is once again deliberately trying to mislead the public with lies. The Revenue Service clarifies that on August 3 of this year, a ship called ‘CAPIBARA,’ sailing under the Indonesian flag, entered the Batumi seaport. It was carrying 15,000 tons of diesel fuel sent by one Russian company to a Georgian company (the agency refrains from naming the companies or disclosing tax-secret-protected information), intended for customs import procedures. Screening conducted by the Maritime Transport Agency of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia confirmed that neither the ship nor its owning company is subject to international sanctions. Furthermore, after the Revenue Service’s own verification, it was established that the cargo itself is also not under sanctions, as the price of the goods does not exceed the upper price threshold set by the sanctions. This information is publicly available from open sources. Accordingly, after the customs control procedures were completed, the cargo was unloaded and processed in accordance with import regulations,” – the Revenue Service stated.

To recall, yesterday the Chairman of the “United National Movement’s” Political Council, Levan Khabeishvili, shared information on social media claiming that a sanctioned oil tanker had entered the Port of Batumi.

“Ivanishvili won’t stop! Right now, in the Port of Batumi, there is an oil tanker – ‘Capibara’ – loaded with 15,000 tons of sanctioned diesel from ‘Gazprom Neft.’ The supplier is an intermediary offshore company, ‘BONEX.’ Through this scheme and a single ship, Ivanishvili will make at least 5 million GEL… The direct recipient of the cargo is Anri Okhanashvili – the de facto head of the State Security Service, who took over the criminal-corruption scheme built by the previous ‘manager.’ Proof of this is that the scheme’s main figure, Givi Kutateladze, has remained in his position at the Batumi oil terminal, serving as an informal ‘overseer’ (officially registered as the head of some department). Let me remind you that in June 2022, we made public a similar case, and after the exposure, the vessel loaded with sanctioned fuel quickly left the Port of Batumi and fled,” Khabeishvili wrote.