UK Urges Georgia to Strengthen Efforts Against Russian Shadow Fleet Imports

The United Kingdom calls on all partners, including Georgia, to strengthen efforts to prevent imports from the Russian shadow fleet.

Yesterday, December 18, the UK government imposed sanctions on Russian oil and gas companies, including Russneft, which imported oil into Georgia in October and supplied it to the newly constructed Kulevi oil refinery.

The British Embassy states that the main targets of recent sanctions against Russia are its oil revenues, which are critical to the war effort.

“The UK has now sanctioned all four of Russia’s largest oil producers. This week, we are going even further to remove Russian oil from the global market by targeting an additional four producers, along with networks facilitating the illicit Russian oil trade. 

With this latest announcement, we are closing in on the remaining 17% by sanctioning Russia’s fifth, sixth, and seventh largest oil companies by production.

We call on all our partners, including Georgia, to strengthen efforts to prevent imports from the Russian shadow fleet, which not only seeks to evade sanctions but also ignores safety and environmental standards, posing serious risks to maritime security,” reads a statement published by the British Embassy today, December 19.

The statement notes that since 2022, Georgia’s dependence on Russian has increased.

“We hope that Georgia can protect its energy security by reducing its growing reliance on Russian oil, which has increased since 2022, and reducing the flow of revenue to Russia’s war machine. Russia is not a reliable energy partner, and diversifying energy sources will help strengthen Georgia’s economic resilience,” says the statement.

Georgian News
Georgian News
is an independent socio-political online edition. The website is operated by the Georgian News.