Georgia has banned the export and re-export of US and EU cars to Russia
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Late in the evening of August 2, the Ministry of Finance of Georgia officially confirmed for the first time that the export and re-export of American-made cars from Georgia to Russia and Belarus has been prohibited since August 1. From September 26, a similar ban will apply to cars manufactured in the EU.
The Ministry of Finance emphasizes that the decision was taken as part of the 11th package of sanctions against Russia in connection with the large-scale invasion of Ukraine. According to the same department, from January 1 to July 1, 2023, 51,000 cars with a total value of $930 million were re-exported from Georgia, including 3,786 units to Russia, with a total value of $52 million.
The decision of the Ministry of Finance also prohibits the re-export of American and European cars from Armenia to Russia through the Military-Georgian road and the Kazbegi-Upper Lars border customs checkpoint. Exceptions are cases when the car belongs to a citizen of Armenia and there is no reason to assume that he is a car dealer.
Until recently, Russians (especially from the southern regions of Russia) often came to Georgia, bought an American or European car at the Rustavsk auto market and returned to Russia via Verkhniy Lars.
The decision of the Georgian authorities was the result of long and difficult negotiations with Western partners. On June 26, the EU special representative for sanctions, David O’Sullivan, the head of the Office for the Coordination of Sanctions of the US State Department, Jim O’Brien, and the Director General for Economy, Science and Technology of the British Foreign Ministry, Kumar Iyer, visited Tbilisi.
On the eve of the visit, they announced that they planned to discuss with the authorities of the Caucasian country “effective implementation of sanctions” against Russia, as well as “opening a direct line for permanent dialogue on this issue” with the Georgian government. Apparently, it was the mentioned “permanent dialogue” on the topic of sanctions that led to the current decision of the government of Iraklii Garibashvili.
On February 25, 2022, immediately after the start of the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Prime Minister Garibashvili declared that Georgia “will not introduce any bilateral sanctions against Russia” because “it will harm the country’s interests.” Georgia joined only the sanctions in the banking and financial sphere.
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