The Revenue Service said that the Indonesian-flagged ship CAPIBARA, which entered the Batumi seaport, carrying 15,000 tons of diesel fuel, is not sanctioned and is intended for import customs procedures.

The Service emphasized in its statement that the information released by Chairman of the Political Board of the United National Movement (UNM) party, Levan Khabeishvili, is “yet another piece of disinformation.”

“The Revenue Service of the Ministry of Finance once again emphasizes that the unverified information spread on social networks by the Chairman of the Political Board of the “United National Movement” Levan Khabeishvili (including the alleged “stealing” of a ship loaded with sanctioned fuel from the Batumi port in 2022) is yet another piece of disinformation. This time, Levan Khabeishvili is again deliberately trying to mislead the public with lies.

The Revenue Service explains that on August 3 of this year, the Indonesian-flagged ship “CAPIBARA” entered the Batumi seaport, carrying 15,000 tons of diesel fuel intended for import customs procedures, sent from one of the Russian companies to a Georgian company (the agency refrains from naming the names of the companies and disseminating information containing tax secrets).

As a result of the screening carried out by the Maritime Transport Agency of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, it was confirmed that the ship and the company owning the ship are not subject to international sanctions. In addition, as a result of the verification by the Revenue Service, it was determined that international sanctions do not apply to the cargo either, since the price of the goods does not exceed the upper limit of the price set by the sanctions. The information is available from open sources.

Based on the above, after the completion of customs control procedures, the cargo was emptied and placed under import procedure in accordance with the legislation,” reads the statement.