A Georgian company has signed a deal to export coal, metals, and other materials under Western sanctions from the Russian-occupied Ukrainian region of Donetsk, local media has reported. Valerian Kochiashvili, the controversial owner of the company in question — George Oil Ltd. — further confirmed the reporting to Georgian media outlets, saying the coal would be exported for domestic usage in Georgia as well as for sale to India and Turkey.
News of the deals first appeared in local media outlets in the Russian-occupied region, with Andrei Chertkov, chair of the Kremlin-installed government, saying earlier in March that he had signed a deal with the company.
‘At this stage, we agreed to formulate specific proposals for products that we are ready to supply on an ongoing basis’, Chertkov said.
‘This is a practical first step towards the formation of full-fledged trade ties [with Georgia]. In general, we consider this agreement as an opportunity to expand sales markets and strengthen the economic position of [Donetsk region]’.
Chertkov, like export materials from Russian-occupied Ukraine in general, is under international sanctions.
In turn, Kochiashvili candidly spoke about the deals with various Georgian media outlets, telling the opposition-aligned TV Pirveli, ‘It’s a very good agreement, a negotiable agreement, it’s an agreement that everyone will be happy with’.
‘We will take everything from there, whatever will be necessary for Georgia, candy, Russian [cookies], everything will be perfect, don’t worry [...] I will take and bring money, if they give it to me [...] I will warn [Georgian] Dream to help us, otherwise I will cut their ears off, I will cut [Georgian Dream founder Bidzina] Ivanishvili’s ears off’, he said with apparent sarcasm.
Separately, he told RFE/RL that he expects the exports to begin by the end of April.
‘We need to establish connections as quickly and timely as possible to end this chaos. There is coal there. The Russians took coal from the Ukrainians, and I want to establish relations with Russia’, Kochiashvili said.
‘After all, they are our neighbours, and if we don’t have connections with them, nothing will help [Georgia]’.
Kochiashvili added that he hoped the areas of trade could expand into other markets, including food and salt, specifically mentioning the famed salt-mining city of Soledar in the Donetsk region, largely destroyed and depopulated in vicious fighting in the first year of the full-scale war.
When asked by RFE/RL if he was worried about possible sanctions, Kochiashvili appeared to brush off the concerns, saying he ‘hasn’t started anything yet’.
This is not the first time Kochiashvili has been engaged in controversial practices — in 2025, he was fined ₾1,000 ($370) for publicly insulting the German Ambassador to Georgia Peter Fischer on the street in Batumi. Fischer is a regular target of the ruling Georgian Dream party’s ire.
OC Media has reached out to the Georgian Foreign Ministry for commentary on the deals, but has yet to receive an answer as of publication.
OC Media
