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The European Union is considering sanctions on a Georgian port accused of handling Russian oil, as part of a new package of measures against Moscow, RFE/RL reported on Monday.
The outlet cited a European Commission proposal outlining measures against the port of Kulevi in Georgia, alongside other facilities in Russia and Indonesia.
EU member states have not yet approved the proposal, which would form part ofhe bloc’s 20th package of sanctions against Russia since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. If adopted, the measures would bar EU companies and individuals from conducting business with these ports.
According to RFE/RL, the proposal alleges that Kulevi has received Russian oil imports via “vessels that employ irregular and high-risk shipping practices.” The draft package also includes sanctions targeting ships linked to Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet.”
Vakhtang Partsvania, a professor at the Caucasus University in Tbilisi, told OCCRP’s Georgian member center Monitori that the proposed sanctions would “touch the entire logistics through this port.” Such a move, he added, would make Kulevi “unattractive to international shipping and isolated from the global financial and insurance system.”
Kulevi oil terminal has long been operated by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR). In a response to Monitori, Tamar Javakhishvili, SOCAR Energy Georgia’s Deputy General Director for Marketing and Communications said that the terminal's operations would be restricted in the event of sanctions.
“The terminal [Kulevi] is owned by SOCAR, while it has independent management. In reality, this matter needs to be clarified with the state authorities,” she added. According to the company's official website, the terminal is operated by SOCAR’s another subsidiary, Black Sea Terminal LLC.
Responding to RFE/RL’s reporting, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said the government was “ready to present detailed information to the European Commission” regarding the proposed sanctions: “Of course, we do not believe that anything is happening [at Kulevi] that contradicts sanctions policy,” he added.
Shipments of Russian crude oil to the Kulevi oil terminal began at the end of 2025. Upon arrival, the oil was transferred to the new Kulevi refinery, operated by the Georgian firm Black Sea Petroleum.
Officially, Black Sea Petroleum belongs to Georgian designer and former model Maka Asatiani and Davit Potskhveria, the nephew of her husband Konstantine Gogelia, who is himself a member of the company’s supervisory board and Asatiani’s authorized representative.
Last year, the investigative outlet Proekt revealed that Asatiani’s son from her first marriage is a business partner of the son of Vladimir Alekseyev, the first deputy chief of Russia's GRU military intelligence.
The Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Black Sea Petroleum is the former Minister of Economy and former Vice Prime Minister, Levan Davitashvili.
Reporters were unable to reach the company for comment.