Georgia's only refinery to end Russian oil purchases and switch to Kazakh and Libyan crude

Under its 21st sanctions package, the European Union added the Kulevi refinery to its sanctions list, giving it until Jan. 25, 2027, to phase out Russian crude oil.

BSP said the Kulevi refinery began processing Kazakh crude in early July and is scheduled to start refining Libyan crude in August.

The agreement to supply Libyan oil was signed on July 3, 2026, and runs through the end of 2027, with an option to extend.

The first shipment of Libyan crude is expected to arrive in Kulevi between Aug. 20 and Aug. 30, BSP said.

Russia first supplied crude oil to Georgia's new Kulevi refinery, which has an annual processing capacity of 1.2 million metric tons, in October 2025.

As reported, the refinery at Georgia's Black Sea port of Kulevi plans to completely phase out imports of Russian crude over the coming months.

BSP first announced plans to stop processing Russian oil in March 2026, saying it would switch to feedstock from Turkmenistan and, later, Kazakhstan.

The Kulevi refinery is Georgia's only oil refinery. Its first phase, with an annual capacity of 1.2 million metric tons, was commissioned in late 2025. The second phase will increase capacity to 4.5 million metric tons per year. Total investment in the project is estimated at $700 million.

The refinery is located next to the Kulevi oil terminal, owned by the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), which was commissioned in May 2008. The terminal has a total annual handling capacity of 10 million metric tons of oil cargo.