"If this ship had not come, the sanctions would not have worked" - Papuashvili on the sanctions cargo in Batumi

"If this ship had not come, the sanctions would not have taken effect," parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili said, referring to the ship that calls at Batumi port and carries oil products subject to Russian sanctions. According to him, the use of sanctions in practice is that someone is trying to break it, and you turn them away.

"This cargo did not get into Batumi and there was no permit for this cargo to enter Batumi. There was a clear answer from various agencies here yesterday, too. The entry of cargo into Georgia, when it comes from the sea, is a two-step procedure, the first concerns the ship, whether the ship can enter the port, and then check whether the ship is sanctioned and the ship was not sanctioned, so it entered. The second stage is part of the clearance or removal of cargo, also to check whether the cargo is sanctioned, in this second stage when checking it turned out that the cargo was sanctioned so the ship was turned back. [...] If this ship had not arrived, the sanction would not have worked," Papuashvili said.