Georgia Denies Import of Military Spare Parts from Russia as ‘Absurd’

Reports about Georgia smuggling military spare parts from Russia are “utterly absurd” and “foolish allegations,” Georgian Deputy Defense Minister Levan Nikoleishvili said on February 20.

Russia’s Southern Federal Customs Service in the Rostov district said in a press release on February 20 that it has uncovered a scheme through which military spare parts have been smuggled from Russia into Georgia.

According to this press release, a firm registered in the southern Russian Republic of Dagestan was exporting blades for MI-24 army helicopters after misleadingly registering them as blades for civilian MI-8 helicopters.

An investigation into the case has been ongoing for a month already, according to Russia’s Southern Federal Customs Service. It did not specify the name of the firm, or any other details, that was involved in the alleged scheme.

“Through its illegal activities, this firm has not only caused financial damage to the state, but also has created preconditions for boosting Georgia’s military potential, hence fostering escalation of tensions in the Caucasus region,” the press release issued by the Russia’s Southern Federal Customs Service reads.

In separate interviews with the Georgian Rustavi 2 and Imedi television stations, Georgian Deputy Defense Minister Levan Nikoleishvili said the report is “a fairy tale and only kids can believe it.”

“It is utter absurd and it is even hard to imagine Georgia receiving [military] spare parts from Russia… It is foolish to claim that it is possible to import military spare parts from Russia into Georgia,” Nikoleishvili said.

“In case of military procurement in the frames of modernizing the Georgian armed forces – no matter whether it is a bullet or other large-scale military procurement – we only work with official structures and with countries with which we have partnership relations… Russia is not among these,” he added.

“We are cooperating in this regard with serious and large companies and we have already carried out some serious [procurements] of high-tech equipment, and we are continuing this process and no one is capable of stopping this process,” Levan Nikoleishvili said.

He said that Russia’s Southern Federal Customs Service report “may be yet another provocation attempt to discredit the Georgian armed forces.”

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