Georgia's only oil refinery to stop processing Russian crude
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Georgia's only major full-cycle refinery will stop accepting Russian oil, the facility's operator announced on July 1.
The announcement comes amid tightening sanctions from the European Union on Russian oil revenues.
Black Sea Petroleum (BSP), which operates the Kulevi oil refinery on the Georgian coast, said the facility would no longer process Russian crude oil in order to have greater access to other energy markets.
"Starting from August–September of this year, the company will begin refining crude oil of entirely non-Russian origin," BSP said in a press release.
"This will open doors to high-margin markets for products manufactured by Black Sea Petroleum."
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The Kulevi oil refinery launched operations in October 25. The first full-cycle oil refinery in Georgia, the facility is part of the country's efforts to reduce dependency on fuel imports.
The refinery accepted shipments of Russian oil via the port of Novorossiysk to the Kulevi Oil Terminal shortly after its opening, according to Reuters. Shipping data and undisclosed sources indicated that the refinery received a shipment of 105,340 metric tons of Russian crude on Oct. 6.
The report came amid warming ties between Moscow and Tbilisi under the leadership of the pro-Kremlin Georgian Dream party, which has been accused of democratic backsliding and electoral fraud.
But in March 2026, BSP announced plans to fully replace Russian oil with alternative sources. BSP CEO and co-founder David Potskhveria said the company would replace Russian crude with products from Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and other countries.
The move would allow BSP to export products to EU countries, which currently prohibit imports of petroleum products refined from Russian oil.
