Georgia-Iran to jointly build oil refinery in Supsa, Black Sea

An oil refinery complex will be built in Supsa, a Black Sea port village in western Georgia.

The project’s investor, Georgian-Iranian company GEOPARS, was gifted state-owned land in Supsa to build the new oil refinery.

Georgia’s National Agency for State Property Management and GEOPARS signed a privatisation agreement today at a presentation of the new Supsa Oil Refinery Complex.

Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili promised the Government would fully support investors to build the new facility.

I am glad to see 800 people will be employed [within the project’s implementation]. This means there will be 800 families better off in Georgia,” he said.

[I believe] this project will be carried out successfully and its results will be reflected in the development of Georgia’s economy,” said PM Kvirikashvili.

Georgia’s National Agency for State Property Management and GEOPARS signed a privatisation agreement today at a presentation of the new Supsa Oil Refinery Complex. Photo by the PM's press office. 

Georgia’s PM said building the oil refinery was important for cementing Georgia’s role as a transit country that offered Asian countries the shortest route to Europe.

This project not only raises Georgia’s role as a transit country but also puts Georgia on the map as a producer-industrial country. Furthermore, having and Association Agreement (AA) and its Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) deal with the European Union (EU), makes Georgia attractive for regional countries, and in this case for Iran, to create industrial zones and export the production to the EU,” said Kvirikashvili.

Georgia’s high official recalled his visit to Iran last year, where he attended an Economic Cooperation Committee meeting – the first time it was held in several years.

Kvirikashvili said the purpose of the meeting was to deepen economic cooperation between Georgia and Iran and results of that meeting were already "obvious”, referring to the joint cooperation to build the new oil refinery complex.