RFE/RL’s Georgian Service traced Solidus as a Georgian company that shipped “300 tons” of gasoline to Abkhazia from the Tbilisi-controlled territory, amid opposition scrutiny and questions after Georgian officials confirmed “business” supplied the occupied region during the shortages attributed to the Russia-Ukraine war.
Solidus holds “special enterprise status,” which allows companies to carry out activities in Georgia’s occupied territories. According to an August 11 decree signed by Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, Solidus’ authorization to carry out activities in the occupied territories was extended for another three months, applying retroactively to activities dating from July 18.
The company’s owner, Giorgi Arveladze, told the outlet that the shipment amounted to approximately 300 tons of fuel, which his company supplied to Abkhaz partners via the Enguri Bridge, the overland crossing point to the occupied region.
“Until now, we had been supplying agricultural and food products. This was the first time fuel was supplied,” he said, describing his activities as “a bridge between Georgian and Abkhaz businesses.”
Arveladze said the supply was “mainly” intended for the population and gas stations in Gali, a district of the occupied region predominantly populated by ethnic Georgians. “If we hadn’t transported this, the 40,000 [ethnic] Georgians [in occupied Abkhazia] would have started crossing to Zugdidi [a town in Georgia proper] with 20-liter drums,” he told the outlet, noting that he purchased the gasoline, which had been imported from Europe, on the Georgian market.
In separate comments to TV Pirveli, Arveladze said that his company had shipped only gasoline and that no diesel was involved, that the transaction was made together with “Abkhaz businesspeople” and was the first such transaction “in 33 years.” He said the shipment was made on his “own initiative,” without any approach from the Georgian government. He refrained from naming the company from which he purchased the gasoline.
Solidus was identified after GD Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, confirming rumors, said at an August 12 press briefing that fuel had been supplied to occupied Abkhazia by a “business,” without naming the company or amount. Later, de facto authorities in Sokhumi also confirmed that “fuel market participants” in the region “have managed to find a way to supply gasoline from Georgia.”
The shipment came amid an ongoing fuel shortage in the breakaway region as Russia faces supply disruptions linked to the Ukrainian strikes, and Kobakhidze explained the move with the need to “ease the situation for the population living in Abkhazia,” affirming the shipment was in line with Georgian Law on Occupied Territories.
Opposition Demands Answers
The shipment prompted questions and criticism from opposition figures in Tbilisi, who demanded that the company involved be identified and raised concerns that the fuel could ultimately be transferred to Russia and potentially support its war effort. Russia maintains a military presence in Abkhazia.
Berdia Sichinava, a member of the For Georgia party founded by former Georgian Dream Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, called on authorities to specify the businesses involved and the shipment volumes, as well as whether the fuel was supplied as humanitarian goods or rather as commercial cargo by undergoing the occupied region’s so-called “customs” procedures.
The key question, Sichinava argued, was whether the shipment ultimately “served critical infrastructure and was used for humanitarian objectives [in Abkhazia], or was used for critical infrastructure and waging war in the Southern regions of the Russian Federation.”
Jailed former President Mikheil Saakashvili wrote on Facebook that “it is a lie that gasoline entering Georgia goes to Abkhazia,” claiming that |only a very small portion remains there” and that the rest “goes to southern regions of Russia, which, as a result of the Ukrainian attacks, have a shortage and gasoline is very expensive.”
Commenting on the shipment, opposition Ahali party leader Nika Gvaramia said it was highly likely that the shipment came as part of a “scheme created to help Russia circumvent sanctions and purchase goods of strategic objectives.”
Roman Gotsiridze, former opposition United National Movement MP and former head of the National Bank of Georgia, separately suggested on Facebook that Solidus was merely an intermediary firm and the primary supplier must have been a major fuel company which “extended a helping hand to occupiers.”
Gotsiridze argued the shipment was organized by Georgian and Russian authorities involving that unidentified fuel company “which cannot avoid sanctions” as, he said, the shipped fuel must have ended up with sanctioned Rosneft, the Russian state-controlled oil company, or affiliated entities. “In Abkhazia, this entire [fuel] sector is under Russian control,” he added.
Georgian Dream Responds
Ruling Georgian Dream party members have dismissed the criticism, accusing opponents of trying to harm the humanitarian efforts and ruling out the possibility of the shipment benefiting the Russian military.
“Everyone knows that diesel is used for military purposes, not gasoline, and the quantity, of course, is negligible, to even suggest that it could be used for military purposes,” Georgian Dream MP Giorgi Volski said in the comments aired by the Rustavi 2 channel. He said the criticism is directed to “create the level of confrontation” that could harm both Georgia and the ethnic Georgians in Gali.
Georgian Dream lawmaker Rati Ionatashvili earlier also rejected the criticism, describing the opposition’s reaction as “hysteria” and “a coordinated attack on the attempt to restore Georgian-Abkhaz relations.”
In a Facebook post, Ionatashvili said 3,000 tons of fuel had been delivered to the occupied territory, describing the shipment as equivalent to “several trucks.”
“Russia’s annual fuel consumption exceeds 200 million tons, while the cargo sent by businesses to Abkhazia is 3,000 tons — 0.001% of Russia’s consumption. Isn’t it ridiculous to talk about the fact that these several tankers were intended for Russia’s supply?” Ionatashvili wrote.
Solidus’ owner, however, later specified the shipment was about 300 tons, not 3,000 tons.
According to the calculations by RFE/RL Georgian service, 300 tons would amount to less than 0.5% of the entire reported fuel volume imported in Abkhazia in 2025.
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