TBILISI, August 17 – A Georgian company denies having delivered a shipment of gasoline to Russian-backed Abkhazia.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze confirmed on August 12 that a private Georgian company had sent fuel to Abkhazia, where shortages had emerged. He stressed that no state agency was involved and said the shipment complied with Georgian law, including legislation governing the occupied territories. He did not identify the company or disclose the volume.
By on Sunday, Georgian fuel company Repsol, which operates the “Connect” fuel station chain, said it had not supplied gasoline directly to Abkhazia.
Repsol said another company, Solidus, had bought the fuel, paid for it and was removing it in stages. According to Repsol, Solidus holds a special permit to conduct economic activity in Abkhazia.
The company said it did not determine where Solidus would ultimately sell the petroleum products.
The shipment has caused significant political controversy in Tbilisi, with Rezonansi reporting that opposition figures portrayed it as cooperation with Russia and called for a large anti-occupation rally in the autumn.
Jailed opposition politician Elene Khoshtaria, a leader of the Coalition for Change, argued that Georgians should demonstrate that the country would not accept the continued occupation.
Among the government’s supporters, the matter was interpreted in less alarmist terms, with Giorgi Gamsakhurdia arguing that because Georgia regards Abkhazia as part of its own territory, moving gasoline from one Georgian region to another did not in itself violate that principle.
Other commentators described the shipment as a possible example of practical economic contact across the conflict divide.
The exact scale and destination of the fuel remain disputed in the public debate. Rezonansi reports referred to 300 tons of gasoline, while analyst Mamuka Areshidze questioned whether that amount had actually entered Abkhazia from Georgian-controlled territory.
Analyst Archil Gamzardia said more information was needed about the legal and administrative arrangements surrounding the shipment, including how the fuel crossed into Abkhazia and what status was used in the documentation.
Georgia considers Abkhazia an occupied part of its territory. Russia recognized Abkhazia as an independent state after the August 2008 war, a status Tbilisi rejects.
