Black Sea Petroleum LLC (BSP), owner of Georgia’s only oil refinery, confirmed on Monday, Aug. 4, that it is implementing its plan to phase out Russian crude oil and switch to alternative sources. The Kulevi Oil Refinery began processing Kazakh-origin crude oil at the beginning of July, with processing of remaining volumes to continue in August, BSP said in a statement.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Under a crude oil supply agreement signed on July 3 with an international trading company, a cargo of Libyan-origin crude oil is expected to arrive at Kulevi between Aug. 20 and 30, BSP said. The agreement runs through the end of 2027 and includes an option to extend. EU sanctions prompted the shift The European Union added the Kulevi refinery to its 21st sanctions package in July, giving it until Jan. 25, 2027, to phase out Russian crude oil. At a press briefing on July 24, the European Commission said BSP was in active communication with the Commission and explained that the six-month transition period was intended to allow the refinery to diversify away from Russian crude. The Commission said the steps already taken by BSP were consistent with that objective and timeframe.