Journalists from the independent Georgian investigative platform iFact published a report stating that a cargo of petroleum products linked to a tanker under international sanctions arrived at the port of Kulevi.

The authors of the investigation claim to have monitored the movements of the NEPHIRA tanker, which arrived from Russia, for five days. On June 8, the vessel entered the port of Kulevi after a lengthy wait in the Black Sea near Georgian-controlled waters.

The report notes that in such cases, a lengthy wait at port typically requires additional inspection of the vessel and the origin of the cargo by competent authorities. The journalists also note that the Kulevi port administration and the ruling Georgian Dream party previously assured their European partners that they would not accept suspicious cargo delivered by vessels with questionable histories.

According to the report, its authors conducted their own investigation based on open source data.

"We don't know the methods used by the Georgian side to inspect this vessel. However, we can share how we inspected it and what we discovered based on open data. After a five-day wait, the tanker NEPHIRA, which entered the port of Kulevi yesterday, delivered approximately 30,000 tons of Russian petroleum products. It is still unknown who sent this cargo or who is receiving it. However, it is known that NEPHIRA obtained this cargo illegally – by transshipment on the high seas, in Russian-controlled waters, from a vessel under strict international sanctions," iFact journalists emphasize.

The investigation notes that the tanker NEPHIRA's official call at the port of Novorossiysk was not recorded. According to the authors, the vessel approached the port on May 29 without cargo, after which it stopped transmitting its location.

According to iFact, on June 1, near Novorossiysk, NEPHIRA received a cargo of petroleum products from the tanker BOLTARIS. At this time, the transponders of both vessels were mostly disabled, and the transmitted coordinates, according to investigators, showed signs of spoofing.

After the alleged reloading, on the evening of June 2, NEPHIRA again transmitted a signal from an area controlled by Russia, then disappeared from radar again. Its next location was recorded off the coast of Abkhazia opposite Sukhumi on the morning of June 3. However, in official data, the tanker indicated that it was unloaded.

That same day, the vessel entered Georgian-controlled waters. According to iFact, the tanker's draft changed from 8.5 to 13.2 meters, which may indicate the presence of cargo on board.

As a reminder, in March, the oil terminal in the Georgian port of Kulevi was excluded from the draft 20th package of EU sanctions against Russia. Prior to this, the EU received documents from the Georgian Foreign Ministry regarding the sanctions package under discussion.

A letter from EU Special Representative for Sanctions David O'Sullivan, quoted by Channel One, stated that the possibility of including the port of Kulevi on the sanctions list was initially considered due to its role in maritime shipments of Russian oil and the calls of tankers belonging to the so-called "shadow fleet."

"This initial position was revised following positive commitments made by your authorities and the port operator. I welcome your assurances that Georgia will not allow vessels subject to EU sanctions to call at or service your ports," the letter's author explained.

Furthermore, the letter noted that the owner of the oil terminal at the port of Kulevi, the Azerbaijani state-owned company SOCAR, "has also committed to strictly adhering to relevant EU sanctions, including the price cap and the EU ban on imports of Russian crude oil and petroleum products."

The aforementioned commitments, according to the EU Special Representative, played a decisive role in the assessment process “and ultimately led to the exclusion of the Kulevi port from the 20th package.”