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Georgia’s Only Oil Refinery to Stop Processing Russian Crude by September
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Georgia's only oil refinery will stop processing Russian crude by the end of this summer in order to avoid European sanctions.
Black Sea Petroleum, which owns the Kulevi refinery, announced the plan in a statement published on July 1, The Moscow Times reported.
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"Starting from August-September of this year, the company will begin refining crude oil of entirely non-Russian origin," the statement noted.
The Kulevi refinery, which opened in October 2025, processed more than 650,000 metric tons of crude during the first half of 2026.
The company confirmed it would replace Russian oil with supplies from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.
In February, the European Union threatened to add the refinery to its 20th sanctions package over Russia's war in Ukraine. Brussels later stated it had received commitments that sanctioned shadow fleet vessels would be barred from an Azerbaijan-owned port next to the Kulevi facility.
Chief Executive David Potskhveria first outlined the diversification plan in March.
Black Sea Petroleum explained that the move away from Russian crude would "open doors to high-margin markets" for its products, including the EU.
The company added that it was expanding its partnership with the US conglomerate Honeywell for high-tech equipment and automated control systems. It plans to begin producing road bitumen in early 2027 and to process jet fuel later that year.
The pivot unfolds against a deepening fuel crisis inside Russia itself. Months of Ukrainian drone strikes on refineries have triggered shortages severe enough to push Moscow to import gasoline by sea and to ban gasoline exports through the end of July.
The refinery's pivot comes as the European Union moves to widen its energy restrictions on Moscow. In a sanctions package unveiled in June, Brussels proposed, for the first time, targeting ports, airports, and refineries that trade in or process Russian oil, and listing another 30 shadow fleet vessels on top of the hundreds already restricted.
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