Georgia’s only oil refinery has begun replacing Russian crude with supplies from Kazakhstan and Libya as owner Black Sea Petroleum races to avoid European Union sanctions that will go into effect in January. The Kulevi refinery received and processed Kazakh crude in July and will continue taking Kazakh barrels during August, Black Sea Petroleum said Monday, as reported by Interfax news agency. Black Sea Petroleum plans to eliminate Russian crude from the refinery’s feedstock by early September, bringing forward a diversification program that previously included Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. The refinery had received six Russian crude shipments between October 2025 and May 2026. Cargoes of refined products from Kulevi later reached Spain and Bulgaria, prompting scrutiny over whether Russian crude was entering Western markets after processing in Georgia.