Georgia’s only oil refinery said Wednesday that it plans to stop processing Russian crude by the end of this summer in order to avoid being hit by European sanctions.
“Starting from August-September of this year, the company will begin refining crude oil of entirely non-Russian origin,” Black Sea Petroleum, which owns the refinery, said in a statement.
The Kulevi refinery, opened in October 2025, said it processed 650,000 metric tons of crude oil in the first half of this year.
In February, the European Union threatened to include the refinery in its 20th sanctions package over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, Brussels later said that it had received commitments that sanctioned “shadow fleet” vessels would be banned from entering an Azerbaijan-owned port located next to the Kulevi facility.
Black Sea Petroleum CEO David Potskhveria said in March that the refinery planned to replace Russian crude with supplies from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.
The diversification of its crude sources would allow Black Sea Petroleum to export refined oil to new markets, including the EU, Potskhveria said at the time.
In Thursday’s statement, Black Sea Petroleum said the shift away from Russian crude would “open doors to high-margin markets” for its products.
The company also said it was expanding its partnership with the U.S. conglomerate Honeywell for high-tech equipment and automated control systems.
Next year, Black Sea Petroleum said it will begin production of road bitumen, which is used as a binder in asphalt. It also plans to process jet fuel.
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