Russia’s Russneft shipped its first petrol cargo to Georgia’s Kulevi refinery earlier in October, according to Reuters.
Reuters reported that the refinery received over 105,000 tonnes of Siberian Light oil from Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk on 6 October.
The refinery is believed to have only begun operations earlier in October, making this shipment from Russneft one of the first set to be received.
The refinery, first announced in late 2024, is operated by Black Sea Petroleum. On its announcement, it was hailed as the ‘largest private investment’ in the country at around $600 million.
According to BM.ge, the project began construction in late 2024, and is expected to be able to process 1.2 million tonnes of crude per year, with plans to expand its capacity to 4 million tonnes in later stages. Financing for the oil refinery comes from private and institutional capital, BM.ge reported, with the Georgian state-owned Development Fund providing a $5 million syndicated loan, alongside a joint contribution of $45 million from the Chinese-owned Basisbank, Kazak bank Halykbank, and Cartu Bank.
Cartu Bank was established by the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili.
Georgia imports a significant proportion of its oil and petroleum products from Russia. In 2024, the country imported $520 million in petroleum and petroleum oils from Russia, around 40% of the total.
Mikheil Gvadzabia
