“The Kulevi terminal has no connection to sanctioned oil. We hope there will be communication between the terminal’s management and the European Union and that appropriate steps will be taken to avoid the sanctions,” Davit Matikashvili, Chair of the Parliament’s Procedural Issues Committee, told journalists.

According to him, it has been repeatedly confirmed that “the Kulevi terminal has had no direct connection with sanctioned oil.”

“The Kulevi terminal is operated by a private company. There had already been some activity in this regard, but ultimately the Kulevi terminal was removed from the sanctions list. As the terminal’s management has stated, and as all monitoring conducted so far has confirmed, this terminal has no connection to sanctioned oil. We hope there will be communication between the terminal’s management and the European Union and that appropriate steps will be taken to avoid the sanctions.

“According to the information available so far, the Kulevi terminal has had no direct connection with sanctioned oil, which has been confirmed repeatedly, including through inspections. A six-month period has been specified, and we should assume that there are certain issues requiring clarification. Presumably, the six-month period has been provided precisely so that these sanctions can be avoided,” Matikashvili said.

For reference, the Kulevi oil refinery was included in the EU’s 21st package of sanctions against Russia. The European Union is introducing a transaction ban against the Georgian refinery, which will enter into force in six months.