On September 14, 2023, it became known that, according to a U.S. State Department document, Georgia’s former Prosecutor General, Otar Partskhaladze, had been sanctioned in response to Russia’s malign influence in Georgia.

Partskhaladze was listed for working or conducting business in the Russian Federation’s economic and management consulting sector and owned a 50% stake in consulting firms LLC Moscow Business Brokerage and LLC International Business Corporation, alongside Aleksandr Onishchenko, identified by the State Department as an officer of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).

Due to the U.S. sanctions, Otar Partskhaladze was to be restricted from accessing his assets and conducting financial transactions.

Following this, three vice presidents of the National Bank of Georgia resigned after, on September 19, the Bank — headed at the time by acting president and former Minister of Economy Natia Turnava — granted an exemption for Georgian citizens under sanctions. Under this exemption, the National Bank no longer required commercial banks to enforce sanctions on Partskhaladze, effectively allowing him access to his bank accounts.

To protest this decision, on September 20, 2023, citizens gathered first outside the National Bank headquarters, in a demonstration organized by the United National Movement, and later moved to Parliament. They demanded Natia Turnava’s resignation and called for “cleansing Georgia of the Russian spy network.” Protesters carried banners reading “I will not be a slave to Russia.” The protest ended shortly afterward without any tangible results.