The construction of an oil refinery in Kulevi will be carried out by the "Black Sea Petroleum"company established by businessman Maka Asatiani in 2022 who owns a 70% share in it. According to the Minister of Economy Levan Davitashvili, the investor is set to pour $30 million in the project. Apart from that, the government declared the 2012 decree "On establishing the Kulevi free industrial zone" annulled.

Talks about the construction of the Kulevi oil refinery began 11 years ago, when an investment agreement was signed between "SOCAR Petroleum Georgia" and the Georgian government. However, the investor failed to implement the project and the obligation was transferred to "Fazi s Oil" company. According to the plan, the construction of the "Fazi s Oil" plant should have started in 2021, i n  5 years after commissioning, the plant had to start operating at full capacity and  the Georgian budget had to receive $ 50 -60 million a year in taxes.

Gia Shavdia, Fazis Oil Director General Gia Shavdia , promised that the factory would process 4.2 million tons of crude oil (94.5 thousand barrels per day) after the completion of the billion-dollar project that would decrease fuel prices by 15-20% in the country. A ccording to preliminary calculations, after the factory is fully operational, the Georgia n budget would receive about $ 50-60 million annually in taxes. E arly this year, Gia Shavdia said that the project was ready, but the pandemic and the war dragged down construction starts. Today, the executive director of "Fazi s Oil" declined to comment on the topic with " C ommersant".

" C ommersant" got in touch with Maka Asatiani's company to find out the details of the Kulev i oil refinery project. "Black Sea Petroleum" says that technical details are being clarified and the company's spoke s person will make a comment to the media later.

The project will have several phases that envisages the development of the area from an industrial point of view. According to the Minister of Economy, the new investor will start important works this year and real results will be already evident .

According to the registry, the factory's new investor company was established in October 2022. The company director and sole manager is Vakhtang Chakhnashvili, a 70% share is owned by business wo man Maka Asatiani, 30% share belongs to TRADE STONE IBERIA LLC. On the other hand, business wo man Maka Asatiani owns 70% share in TRADE STONE IBERIA, Sofio Tavartkiladze owns a 30% share.