Day: September 18, 2023

 Georgia accuses ex-official of plotting from Ukraine to oust Tbilisi government

Men wearing traditional clothes stand next to the Georgian flag during the Independence Day celebrations in Tbilisi, Georgia May 26, 2022. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze Acquire Licensing Rights

TBILISI, Sept 18 (Reuters) – Georgia on Monday accused a former deputy interior minister of plotting from Ukraine to overthrow the Tbilisi government, testing ties with Kyiv as Georgia deepens its relations with Russia.

The State Security Service said it had been monitoring a group led by Giorgi Lortkipanidze, who it alleged was working as deputy head of Ukrainian military intelligence and is a former member of a strongly pro-Western Georgian government.

“According to confirmed and verified information, the implementation of the plan – developed by Giorgi Lortkipanidze – would involve a rather large group of Georgian fighters in Ukraine and a part of Georgian youth,” the service said in a statement.

It did not provide evidence, and in Kyiv, foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said Tbilisi was “trying to demonise Ukraine” for domestic reasons.

“The Ukrainian state did not interfere, does not interfere and does not plan to interfere in the internal affairs of Georgia,” he wrote on Facebook.

Andriy Yusov, spokesman for Ukrainian military intelligence, said it had never had a Giorgi Lortkipanidze as deputy head, though he declined to say whether it employed such a person.

The Georgian statement said the alleged plotters planned to channel frustration among young Georgians if the European Union failed to grant their country candidate status at an EU summit in mid-December.

Georgia says it is committed to joining the EU. But it was denied candidate status last year, with Brussels saying it must reduce political polarisation and improve state institutions. Since then, EU officials say it has, if anything, slid back.

Relations with Europe have also suffered since the beginning of the war in Ukraine as Tbilisi has avoided blaming Moscow, even though Georgia’s population is heavily pro-Ukraine.

Many Georgians resent Russia’s backing for the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and Georgians are well-represented among foreigners fighting for Ukraine.

Though Tbilisi has shipped humanitarian aid to Ukraine, it has declined to impose sanctions on Russia, and in May allowed direct flights to and from its vast neighbour for the first time since 2019.

The same month, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili blamed the expansion of the western NATO alliance for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In December, the chair of the ruling party suggested that Georgians fighting in Ukraine could lose their citizenship.

Kyiv has also criticised Georgia for imprisoning Mikheil Saakashvili, a pro-Western former president who acquired Ukrainian nationality.

The Georgian State Security Service named a former bodyguard to Saakashvili as one of the alleged conspirators, along with the commander of a Georgian unit fighting in Ukraine.

Reporting by Felix Light; Editing by Kevin Liffey

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Georgian banks have frozen accounts of Mr. Partskhaladze

According to the National Bank of Georgia, Otar Partskhaladze, former Prosecutor General and under US sanctions, has had his access to bank assets and financial transactions restricted. All his accounts were frozen.

As explained in the National Bank, the under-sanctioned person is restricted both in the disposal of funds and in the ability to conduct all types of financial transactions. It is reported that from February 26, 2022, according to the instruction of the National Bank of Georgia, Georgian financial institutions will fully operate in accordance with the financial sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom against the Russian Federation.

“The financial sector of Georgia is instructed to take into account the requirements established by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for persons on the sanctioned persons list (SDN list), which implies limiting access to assets and execution of financial transactions by sanctioned persons. A sanctioned person is restricted both in the disposal of funds and in the ability to perform all types of financial transactions.

We would like to remind that the financial sector of Georgia operates in full compliance with the requirements stipulated by the sanctions regime. In order to comply with the financial sanctions, a special department has been established in the National Bank, which supervises/monitors this process. It should be noted that international organizations positively assess the steps taken by the National Bank in this direction,” the statement reads.

• How the Georgian Judicial System Fell Under Western Sanctions
• Ukraine demands sanctions on Bidzina Ivanishvili and his circle
• “There is accurate info on the involvement of judges in corruption” – US State Department on sanctions against judges in Georgia

On September 14, the United States imposed sanctions against Otar Partskhaladze. This is related to his business activities and cooperation with the Russian FSB. Before the official announcement of the decision, the media reported that a “Georgian-Russian oligarch” was among those subject to sanctions.

According to the US State Department, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) worked with Otar Partskhaladze to influence Georgian society and politics in favor of Russia.

In addition, the US State Department statement said that in addition to Partskhaladze, sanctions were imposed on Russian intelligence officer Alexander Onishchenko, who allegedly helped “his associate Partskhaladze obtain a Russian passport and possibly Russian citizenship.”

The sanctions imposed imply the following restrictions:

• All property and capital of a sanctioned person in the United States or, if such property is owned or controlled by a U.S. citizen, will be blocked and may not be transferred, paid for, exported, seized or otherwise used in financial transactions.
  Restrictions on or for the benefit of a sanctioned person prohibit any contributions or funds, delivery of goods, or provision of services from the United States. It is also prohibited to receive any donations or finances, goods or services from that person.
• In addition to restrictions on property and financial transactions, sanctions also include a ban on entry into the U.S., as sanctioned persons are deemed to be harmful to U.S. interests. Exceptions are made if the U.S. Secretary of State or the Secretary of Homeland Security determines that entry of such an individual would not be contrary to U.S. interests.
  The sanctions prohibit violations of and circumvention of the restrictions imposed.

Salome Zurabishvili on Partskhaladze

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili demanded to launch an investigation into the case of former Prosecutor General of Georgia Otar Partskhaladze sanctioned by the United States. According to Zurabishvili, “the biggest misfortune” is that the country’s Prosecutor General was an FSB [Russian] agent. Zurabishvili said this while speaking at a meeting with representatives of non-governmental organizations.

“I think despite the fact that Mr. Kakha [Kaladze, Tbilisi mayor] said that the biggest trouble is my visits to Europe, actually the biggest trouble is when the country’s prosecutor general was an FSB or KGB agent. That’s the biggest trouble. And it is an even bigger trouble when there is no panic about it in the agencies that are supposed to investigate it today. I am here before you demanding that the public respond with a detailed investigation. This is not a request, but a demand,” the president said.

• Statement on impeachment of Georgian president signed by 80 MPs
• Ukraine demands sanctions on Bidzina Ivanishvili and his circle

On September 14, the United States imposed sanctions against Otar Partskhaladze. This is related to his business activities and cooperation with the Russian FSB. Before the official announcement of the decision, the media reported that a “Georgian-Russian oligarch” was among those subject to sanctions.

According to the US State Department, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) worked with Otar Partskhaladze to influence Georgian society and politics in favor of Russia.

In addition, the U.S. State Department statement said that in addition to Partskhaladze, sanctions were imposed on Russian intelligence officer Alexander Onishchenko, who allegedly helped “his accomplice Partskhaladze obtain a Russian passport and possibly Russian citizenship.”

On September 18, it became known that the National Bank of Georgia restricted former Prosecutor General and under U.S. sanctions Otar Partskhaladze’s access to bank assets and financial transactions. All his accounts have been frozen.

As the National Bank explained, the sanctioned person is restricted both in the disposal of funds and in the ability to conduct all types of financial transactions.