Georgia refinery to increase capacity to 4 million tons if refuses raw materials from Russia

The oil refinery in the Georgian port of Kulevi is stopping purchases of Russian crude oil. The facility will transition entirely to processing oil from Kazakhstan and Libya during August and September.

Black Sea Petroleum LLC (BSP), the owner of the plant, began processing Kazakh oil in early July. According to a trade agreement signed on July 3, the first shipment of Libyan crude is scheduled to arrive at Kulevi port between August 20 and August 30. The contract with Libya remains in effect until the end of 2027 with an option for extension.

The shift in suppliers follows European Union sanctions. Under the 21st sanctions package, the Kulevi refinery was blacklisted, with regulators setting a deadline of January 25, 2027, to completely cease the use of Russian raw materials.

The plant, which has an annual capacity of 1.2 million tons, originally began operations using Russian crude in October 2025. BSP plans to expand the facility's capacity to 4 million tons by 2028 to serve the Georgian domestic market and support petroleum product exports.

Source: This article was adapted from an original Russian-language publication by Pravda.Ru.