Georgian Minister of Finance Meets with US State Department Head of Sanctions Coordination Office

As part of a visit to the US, Georgian Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili met with Ambassador Jim O’Brien, Head of the US State Department’s Office of Sanctions Coordination, the Georgian Ministry of Finance said in a statement. At the meeting the sides reviewed Georgia’s measures to enforce international sanctions and coordination with partners in this regard. According to the Ministry, the Minister thanked the US for its support and for sharing its experience with Georgia in the enforcement of sanctions, and expressed hope that future bilateral cooperation would further enhance Georgia’s capacity to enforce international regulations.

Khutsishvili is on an official visit to the US, where, according to the Ministry of Finance he is expected to take part in the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, as well as hold high-level meetings at the US Department of State and Commerce, US Treasure, and various donor agencies.

Georgian government has on many occasions drew criticism from Ukrainian high-level officials, Georgian opposition, and international partners for Georgia’s position on international sanctions vis-à-vis Russia or even for aiding Russia in avoiding sanctions. Georgian authorities have repeatedly denied these accusations. Meanwhile, Moscow has hailed Tbilisi’s “balanced” stance on Russia sanctions.

In comments to journalists at the “Informatics and Data Science for Health (IDASH) Program” event, US Ambassador Degnan spoke about the Minister of Finance meeting with the US State Department Sanctions Coordinator. She emphasized that the US has been working closely with the Georgian authorities for a year to share information about trade flow through Georgia. She said they have had good cooperation from the Customs and Revenue Service and border patrol, with whom they have been close partners for many years, providing training and equipment. “The meeting between the Minister of Finance and our Sanctions Coordinator was focused on this because as this Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine goes on, we are learning more and more about how Russia is trying to evade sanctions and evade export control regulations, not just the United States, but also those imposed the European Union, by Japan, by the UK.  So, this is an important part of our partnership to continue to share information and to tighten our controls in order to stop the flow of goods that are being used by Russia’s war machine against Ukraine.  And we’ve had very good cooperation from the Georgian authorities on this point” said Ambassador Degnan.

Also Read:

• 23/01/2023 – Finance Minister Says Georgia Leading in Enforcing Sanctions against Russia
• 28/05/2022 – PM Lashes Out at Opposition MPs After Grilling Over Ukraine Support, Sanctions
• 05/05/2022  – Russian-Owned Borjomi Sacks 49 Workers Amid Sanctions Fallout
• 08/04/2022  – Georgia Not Helping Russia Evade Sanctions, Says PM
• 17/03/2022  – German, U.S. Ambassadors Talk Georgia’s Stance on Russia Sanctions
• 11/03/2022  – Department of State on Garibashvili’s ‘Sanctions Ineffective’ Remarks
• 28/02/2022  – PM: Sanctions Ineffective, Nobody to Stop Bombing of Kyiv
• 25/02/2022  – Georgia Won’t Join Russia Sanctions, PM Says

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)