Georgia will no longer refine Russian crude
Oil refining (Photo: Jakub Pabis / energiesmedia)
Georgia’s
only oil refinery will stop processing Russian crude and reorient to supplies
from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, local outlet Business Media reported on March
30.
The Kulevi refinery, owned by Georgian company Black Sea Petroleum (BSP), will “completely replace” Russian crude with Turkmen and then Kazakh oil, BSP CEO David Potskhveria told the journalists.
He said the move is aimed at allowing the company to export refined products to the European Union, which bans imports of petroleum products refined from Russian crude. BSP was placed on a preliminary EU sanctions list in early March for importing and refining Russian oil, Potskhveria added.
Potskhveria said the only current obstacle to a full switchover is a delay by Azerbaijan in starting transit for Turkmen oil to Georgia. He said he hopes the issue will be resolved soon and that rail links will then allow Kazakh oil to follow.
In October 2025, Russneft (Russian oil company) delivered 105,000 metric tons of crude to Kulevi for processing.
The Kulevi refinery has the capacity to process about 1.2
million metric tons of petroleum products a year, with plans to expand to 4.5
million metric tons. The plant began operating in December 2025.
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