The Revenue Service of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia on Thursday said there was no evidence of “any sanctioned light vehicle” originating from the United Kingdom being sent to Russia via transit, export, or re-export through Georgia, in response to a report aired by the British television company Sky News.

The body added the report, titled Despite Sanctions Imposed Due to the Ongoing War in Ukraine, Sky News Reveals That Luxury Segment Cars Are Still Reaching Russia, had failed to specify which country's statistics were being referenced when mentioning an export volume of £26 million.

It also said the report had not specified which country's customs data the Sky News journalist had referred to in comments on a “transfer of luxury vehicles across borders”.

"Sanctions imposed by the United States, the UK and the European Union on Russia and Belarus due to the ongoing war in Ukraine include restrictions affecting imports of light vehicles from the EU, UK and US into Russia or Belarus, the body said, adding the restrictions did not apply to the export or re-export of vehicles imported from the US and the EU to countries not listed in the sanctions published by these entities.

The ban does not extend to vehicles personally owned by individuals, used for personal purposes and those not intended for sale, it added, pointing out unlike other goods such as advanced technology or high-priority items, regulations concerning sanctions from these countries do not prohibit the transit of light vehicles destined for third countries, including through Russia.

We can state with full confidence that there has been no instance of sanctioned passenger cars from the United Kingdom being transported through Georgia in a transit, export, or re-export capacity destined for the Russian Federation.

Lastly, the claim that the majority of these vehicles lack registration numbers is false. When crossing the customs border, individuals present the vehicle under their control, which bears a temporary number plate issued along with a temporary license valid only within the country," - the statement says.

While the Sky News report stops short of definitively naming Georgia (and its relevant agencies) as a country implicated in sanction evasion, the material has unfortunately been leveraged by various Georgian media outlets to attack their own country and discredit the customs administration,” the agency said in a statement.