Georgia’s only oil refinery will stop using Russian crude oil by September to preserve access to Western markets, its operator has said.
Black Sea Petroleum announced on Wednesday that the Kulevi Oil Refinery, near Poti on the Black Sea coast, will refine only crude oil of “non-Russian origin” from the start of autumn.
“This will open doors to high-margin markets,” it said. Black Sea Petroleum added that it continued to “develop the plant in accordance with its strategic plan and to make a significant contribution to Georgia's economic development.”
The Kulevi Oil Refinery, which opened in October 2025 and is owned by Georgian businesswoman Maka Asatiani, processed 650,000 metric tonnes of crude oil in the first half of 2026.
It is part of the wider Kulevi industrial complex, which includes the older Kulevi Oil Terminal and Sea Port, operated by Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR.
The European Union (EU) proposed sanctioning the Kulevi Oil Terminal and Sea Port in February over concerns that the port was facilitating Russian oil exports.
The EU released few specific details. However, the bloc’s sanctions envoy, David O’Sullivan, referred to “calls by shadow fleet tankers” at Kulevi Port.
Russia’s shadow fleet is a network of ageing merchant vessels used by Moscow to evade Western sanctions aimed at restricting the country’s oil exports.
However, the oil terminal and port ultimately avoided inclusion in the EU’s 20th sanctions package against Russia after Brussels accepted commitments from Georgia and SOCAR not to allow vessels subject to EU sanctions to enter the port.
The Kulevi Oil Terminal and Sea Port was completed in late 2007 and began operations in 2008.
Black Sea Petroleum CEO David Potskhveria said in March that the refinery planned to replace Russian crude with supplies from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.
In its statement on Wednesday, the company said it would begin producing road bitumen for the domestic market and for export from the first quarter of 2027. By the second quarter of 2027, it expects to be able to produce aviation fuel.
The firm also said it was deepening its partnership with American technology giant Honeywell to supply high-tech equipment and automated control systems.
Russia's health watchdog said on Tuesday that no cases of plague had b...
An Azerbaijani citizen died and another is missing after a cargo ship was attacked by a drone in the Black Sea, near the coast of Romania on Monday...
Azerbaijan is seeking to attract more European visitors by improving air connectivity and raising its profile as an international tourism des...
Australian counterterrorism authorities are examining the links of the co-pilot accused of attacking the captain and attempting to take control of a flydubai flight bound for Israel. Authorities in New Zealand have also said they are investigating reports the suspect had spent time in that country.
Russia's health watchdog said on Tuesday that no cases of plague had been detected among anyone who had come into contact with a Siberian plague institute laboratory worker who died last week, and locals said their lives had barely been disrupted.
Right-wing Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro will face leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a runoff of the presidential election later this month, after he exceeded expectations in Sunday's first-round vote with a slight lead over the incumbent.
Candidates elected to Bosnia and Herzegovina's three-member presidency declared victory after preliminary unofficial results showed Denis Becirovic leading the Bosniak seat, Darijana Filipovic ahead in the Croat seat and Zeljka Cvijanovic likely retaining the Serb seat.
An Azerbaijani citizen died and another is missing after a cargo ship was attacked by a drone in the Black Sea, near the coast of Romania on Monday, 5 October, Baku's Foreign Ministry has said.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) project could become a cornerstone of economic transformation in Armenia and the wider region, while boosting investment and regional connectivty.
Central Asian countries are strengthening sanitary and quarantine controls amid the situation in Russia’s Irkutsk region. Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have introduced preventive measures following the death of an employee of a plague research institute in the city of Shelekhov.
Kazakhstan’s former navy chief, Kanat Niyazbekov, has been arrested after 14 servicemen died during military exercises in the Caspian Sea in September, Russian state news agency TASS has reported, citing law enforcement authorities.
The German-Azerbaijani Connectivity Conference 2026 commenced on 6 October in Baku under the title “Mobilising Finance for Infrastructure, Transport, Logistics, Green Energy, and Digitalisation along the Middle Corridor.”
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Türkiye on Monday agreed at an emergency meeting in Riyadh to put their Mecca Joint Defence Agreement into practical effect, deciding to deploy agreed military forces and capabilities rapidly to the kingdom as Houthi attacks and a Saudi-backed offensive in Yemen continue.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment