The Reuters news agency reported in mid-October that the Russian company, RussNeft, had delivered the first batch of oil to a new refinery in Kulevi, Georgia.
105,340 tons of light West Siberian oil were delivered on a Kayseri tanker to Kulevi.
After the Reuters publication, the Georgian tax service issued a statement that on October 2, a Panamanian-flagged vessel entered the port of Kulevi from the Russian federation, carrying up to 100,000 tons of crude oil destined for import customs procedures sent by one of Russian companies. As a result, an inspection conducted by the maritime transport agency of the ministry of economy and sustainable development of Georgia and revenue service confirmed that the vessel, its owner company, and the companies sending and receiving the cargo were not under international sanctions.
RussNeft was founded in 2022 by Mikhail Gutseriev, who resigned from the board of directors after the European Union imposed sanctions against him in 2014.
In 2023, RussNeft produced 6.434 million tons of oil and 2.11 billion cubic meters of gas. The company’s assets are located in Western Siberia, the Volga-Ural region and Central Siberia.
