On January 10, an agreement on the abolition of export customs duties on fuel and lubricants between Russia and the occupied Tskhinvali region entered into force.

The Russian government limited the export of fuel from September 21, 2023, and effective October 1, those countries, including the occupied regions, which still export fuel from Russia under signed agreements, would have to pay an additional tax.

The de facto governments of the occupied regions of Georgia claimed for months that they would not be affected by the tax, although the official decision of the Russian government in this regard was not announced.

At the end of 2023, at his year-end press conference, the de facto President Alan Gagloyev announced that Russia will cancel export customs duty on fuel and lubricants for the occupied region.

As Gagloyev said, during a telephone conversation with Alexander Novak, the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Government who also supervises the occupied rgions of Georgia, he was informed that the Russian government would sign the resolution in two days.

On December 30, in Moscow, the tax abolition protocol was signed by the Deputy Minister of Economic Development of Russia, Dmitry Volvach, and the newly appointed Minister of de facto Economic Development of the region, Sarmat Kotaev.