The Revenue Service of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia explains that on January 8 of this year, the Liberian-flagged vessel “NOSTOS” (registration number 9258014) entered the Kulevi seaport, loaded with 40,143 tons of crude oil intended for import customs procedure, sent from a Russian company by one of the foreign intermediary companies to a Georgian company (the agency refrains from stating 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, it has been confirmed that the vessel and the company owning the vessel, as well as the cargo, are not subject to international sanctions. Accordingly, it entered the country in full compliance with the legislation and the cargo was subject to import procedure.

The Revenue Service of the Ministry of Finance and the Georgian Maritime Transport Agency coordinate and constantly carry out inspections of both ships and shipowners in relation to international sanctions, and if a ship or shipowner is on the sanctions list, it is not allowed to enter Georgian ports and carry out customs procedures.

The Revenue Service, within its competence, constantly implements relevant measures and tightened control in order to prevent attempts to use the customs territory of Georgia to evade sanctions.