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Russia Turns to Georgia to Process Crude—Here’s Why It Matters
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![Photo of Vlad Litnarovych]( "Photo of Vlad Litnarovych")
Russia has sent its first shipment of crude oil to Georgia for refining, marking an unexpected deepening of energy ties between the two countries despite years of political tension, Reuters reported on October 21.
According to ship-tracking data and industry sources, the tanker Kayseri delivered 105,340 tons of Siberian Light crude from the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk to Georgia’s newly launched Kulevi oil refinery on October 6.
The vessel, sailing under the Panamanian flag, is listed among Greenpeace’s “shadow fleet” of tankers used by Russian oil traders to bypass Western sanctions.
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The delivery was made by Russneft, which declined to comment to Reuters. It was the first shipment of Russian crude to the Kulevi refinery, which began operations earlier this month with an annual capacity of about 1.2 million tons.
Georgia plans to expand capacity to 4 million tons by 2028 to meet domestic demand and supply regional markets.
The refinery’s launch marks a step toward reducing Georgia’s dependence on imported fuel from Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Romania, and Kazakhstan.
The deal also comes amid a fuel processing crisis inside Russia, where repeated Ukrainian drone strikes have forced Moscow to reroute oil supplies and seek new refining options abroad.
Although Russia and Georgia have had no diplomatic relations since the 2008 war over South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the ruling Georgian Dream party has strengthened economic ties with Moscow in recent years, even as relations with the West have cooled.
Earlier, Georgian riot police used water cannons and pepper spray to disperse protesters outside the presidential palace in Tbilisi, detaining several opposition figures following clashes that erupted during local elections.
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